He Mele No Lilo
by Wulfeh
Summary: /Inspired by Disney's Lilo and Stitch but does NOT follow the movie, so it is completely AU.../ Gohan does his best to befriend a hostile and injured alien, while dealing with the recent death of his beloved father. But will the friendship change his life for better...or worse? /I Own Nothing...mild language, some comicbook violence, nonyaoi/ *COMPLETE!*
1. Airplanes

_**DBZ Lilo and Stitch**_

_This little fiction was inspired by __Lilo and Stitch__... It just fits Gohan and Piccolo LOL. Obviously this is an AU... And elements from __Lilo and Stitch __should be fairly obvious, but I had to change to certain things... Obviously Piccolo would not end up at the animal shelter XD and he's not an evil...experiment... _

_Do keep in mind that __Lilo and Stitch__ is the basis, therefore some stuff that was a huge part of the movie is going to be in here...and some small stuff that is just too cute to leave out. _

_Anyway, hope you enjoy this :)_

—••••—••••—••••—••••—

"Gohan! _Gohaaaan!_" the woman put her hands on her hips, pursing her lips and gazing around the woodlands again. "How can he move so quickly...?" she murmured, brow furrowing with worry. Chichi brushed a loose strand of black hair back behind her ear. "He forgot his lunch..."

The boy in question was out of his mother's hearing range, up a tree to be exact. Limbs wrapped tightly around a tree branch, Gohan held out a peanut butter sandwich to a large crow. The bird squawked, snatching the sandwich from the boy's outstretched fingers.

"Ooh!" Gohan slipped off the branch, plummeting earthward - or would have, had his tail not caught him. "Phew!" he looked back up the bird, "you ought to be a little more polite Petunia! I could've fallen all of the way down! Then who would bring you a peanut butter sandwich every Tuesday?" the crow looked at him with beady black eyes and flew away. "Bye Petunia!" Giggling, Gohan scrambled back up on to the branch, scooting along to the trunk. "I don't want to be late to school!"

He was late. Very, _very_, late.

"Oh noooo!" The five year old scrambled through an open window, just as his teacher shut the classroom door. He fell with an audible thump, landing on his tail. His dark eyes watered, but did not spill over, much to his relief.

"Son Gohan!" he looked up, blushing, into the face of Mister Krillin, "D-did you just come through the window?" the teacher offered the boy his hand, but Gohan ignored it.

"Yessir..." Gohan bit back tears, "I'm sorry I'm late sir, please don't call my mom!" Several children snickered, already muttering taunts under their breaths. Krillin's eyes softened and he shook his head.

"Of course not, kiddo. You're not that late, after all."

"Why ya late, Gohan?" One of the bigger kindergartners jeered, "talkin' to animals again?" Several children laughed, joining in. "Yeah, why ya late Monkey Boy?" Gohan's eyes welled with tears, and his face grew hot,

"I had to give Petunia her Peanut Butter Sandwich..." he whispered, voice trembling."It's Tuesday."

"Ignore them, Gohan."

"It's Tuesday!" Gohan blurted, "I have to give Petunia her Peanut Butter sandwich or she'll get mad!"

"Who's...Petunia?" Krillin asked, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. He kept his voice steady, and gently helped Gohan to his feet.

Tears spilled over the boy's eyelids, rolling down his cheeks, "Petunia's a bird, and - and I had to give her a peanut butter sandwich like I do every Tuesday!"

Krillin soon found himself being the only thing keeping Gohan on his feet. "B-but we were out of p-peanut butter. We only h-h-had chi-chicken! And I couldn't give her that," Gohan latched onto Krillin, "Chicken is BIRD!" He buried his face in Krillin's chest and sobbed.

Krillin gently lead the sobbing Gohan to the class room door, away from the guffaws of the other children.

"Why is it so important, kiddo? To give Petunia her sandwich?" Gohan stopped crying for a minute, looking up (although not too far up) at his teacher's face and said earnestly: "Petunia controls the Weather."

Krillin's mouth formed a perfect "o."

Unbeknownst to Gohan, a life changer was hurtling toward earth at bone melting velocity.

"Where's he headed?" A cracked voice growled, clenching gnarled fists around a staff. "How can he have escaped...?" the wrinkled green man murmured to himself. Of course, he knew all too well how his enemy had wriggled loose; the man had access to all of his knowledge, damn him.

"We're calculating the ship's trajectory now, Sir," a short, dark genie at his side replied, staring intently at a computer screen. Kami himself watched the surrounding inkiness; eyes following a trail of fire from the escapee's oddly shaped star cruiser.

"If he's headed for some barren rock, let him go. That ship hasn't much fuel."

"Right, Kami."

"Popo, where is Moori?"

Popo gestured to their ship's control panel, where a much younger (yet still aged) green man of the same species frantically calculated the convict's course. Kami moved swiftly over to his friend, avoiding many scrambling Namekians. "Well, Moori?"

The portly Namek looked up at him with wide eyes, "Ma Junior, he's... headed straight for an inhabited planet." Kami's blood froze in his chest.

"_No..."_

Moori bobbed his head, sweat running down his face, antennae twitching in fear.

"What planet?"

"Earth."

Kami nodded slowly. _To think that it came to this..._

"Shoot him down."His voice did not tremble, nor did his resolve fail him. Ma Junior must_ not _reach civilization. That abomination must be destroyed... Even if meant the end of his own life… He shook his head sadly, what a waste... "Prepare to fire.

Moori's face filled with sadness, but he nodded.

"Arm the missiles." Moori's voice echoed throughout the ship via the PA system causing other Namekians to rush about the control room: some, like Kami, were accompanied by other aliens. A presence by his side caused the aged Namekian to look down. Popo met Kami's gaze, dark eyes apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, Kami..."

"It's my own fault," the old man returned, "I had a chance to seal him, and hesitated. I had hoped there would be a way to exercise his father's evil." He frowned, "I was wrong."

A young Namek, not quite at his prime, approached.

"We're ready to fire."

Kami dipped his head.

"Proceed, Nail."The warrior Namek bowed, turned and gave the signal. A great whirring noise filled the ship as the energy cannons spun, shooting white hot energy at the fleeing ship.

"I cannot watch," Popo shook his head, placing a hand over his eyes.

"Please, friend. I cannot do this alone."

He heard the missiles launch.

"Dammit!" He kicked the small cruiser, tearing at the control panel with wicked claws. "Go faster you _useless_ piece of -"

**BOOM**

Energy cannons bombarded the small ship, throwing him forward violently. The seat belt locked, slicing into his neck and chest, yanking him back and slamming his head into the back of the seat. Red warning lights and sirens filled the cramped cruiser. Another explosion rocked the small craft, destroying what was left of an engine, black smoke choked him, constricting his lungs.

He couldn't breathe.

-**Prepare for Impact**- an artificial voice told the unconscious alien.

"He's wounded, but alive." Kami cursed; the blue planet drew nearer.

"Ma Junior will not survive impact," Nail said pointedly. "That planet is either water that will drag that craft under before he can free himself, or hard rock. With any luck, the craft will explode, and he'll be incinerated."

Kami winced.

Gohan sat on his bed, holding an icepack over a new shiner. One of the bigger children had been making fun of his tail again, and when Gohan had snapped and told him off, the boy had decked him. Like any frightened child, Gohan had started to cry, and, when the older boy started picking on him again, pushing him and such, Gohan bit him.

Krillin had walked him home, and waited until his mother returned from work. They were still downstairs, talking. He could make out their words, but just barely.

"Don't punish him Chi, that kid had him in a head lock. He couldn't do anything else."

"I just...I just don't know what to do!" it sounded like his mother was crying. "It's been so - so** HARD** without G-Goku."

"I know... He was my best friend. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think 'maybe I'll see if Goku wants to go fishing' then I remember."

His mother was definitely crying. He imagined that Krillin was sitting next to her, patting her on the back and trying to make her feel better.

"I'm a terrible son..." he whispered, "making my mama cry... I shouldn't make Mommy cry. I'm supposed to make her smile." He took the ice pack away from his face; the cold was starting to hurt. Setting it down on the bedside table, Gohan lay back in his bed, staring at the wall. A picture of his family - his whole family - stared at him. Mocking him. Gohan gazed longingly at the man with the goofy grin on his face in the photograph. His daddy. Gohan squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't bear to look at Goku anymore.

It had been a month since his Daddy died.

There had been something wrong with his heart, an old injury from a martial arts match, or simply an undiagnosed deformity. He and Krillin had been sparring, and suddenly, Goku had clutched his chest, surprise on his face. Gohan remembered clearly how they had rushed to the hospital, but it had been too late. The strain had been too much for his heart. Goku had been pronounced dead within minutes of their arrival. Gohan remembered how his mother couldn't tell him, how Krillin had tried, and finally, a doctor had taken him aside and gently explained to the child that his daddy was _never_ coming home.

Before his memories could reach the funeral, the door to his bedroom opened. He didn't roll over until he felt his mother sit down on the bed. She pulled him gently onto her lap, and rested his head against her chest. Chichi gently combed his wild black hair with her fingers.

"Hey, Gohan-baby..." she whispered. Gohan said nothing.

After a moment, Chichi tried again, "I made pancakes for dinner. Do you want to come down? Or should I bring them up?"

"Not hungry," he mumbled.

"Okay... Well Krillin wanted to know if you wanted to go fishing tomorrow after school."

He shrugged, eyes stinging. Chichi reached over to the lamp on his bedside table, pulling the chord. The light bulb flickered to life, illuminating a green dragon wrapped around the lamp's base. "Do you want me to read to you?" her voice was distant, far off, as if her mind was elsewhere. Probably on the picture.

"_Brave Story_?" Gohan asked, anything to distract him. "_Harry Potter_? _Redwall_?" he tilted his head back, meeting his mother's soft dark eyes.

"Which one?" she murmured, as he shifted off of her lap.

An hour passed with his mother's artful reading, and, by the time she flicked off the light and bade him to sleep, the boy's thoughts were pleasant. Gohan watched the sky through the open window, counting the stars. He couldn't sleep just yet. His mind was too full of magic to relax.

Gohan's attention was caught, very suddenly, by a bright streak of light rocketing through the velvet sky. A shooting star? Slipping out from under the covers, Gohan bolted for his window seat, a wish already forming in his mind.

_A friend_, he pleaded_, I want a friend! Just like Wataru has Meena and Kee Keema; and Harry has Ron and Hermione! Like Martin has Gonff and Dinny! A friend! __**Please!**_

It struck him that the meteorite should not still be visible. This must be a very large one indeed. And getting bigger! He marveled as the light continued to fall. Gohan followed it with his eyes, calculating where it would strike.

A rumbling blast shook the earth as the meteorite crash landed in the forest at the base of the mountains. Excitement filled him; if he could procure a piece of magical wishing stone, he could do whatever he wanted! He could make his mother smile again, maybe he could even do the impossible - bring his father back! He contemplated going to the site now, but knew his mother would be in to check on him in the next few minutes. And he couldn't skip school... At least tomorrow was Friday, and he only had a half day due to conferences. The moment the bell rang, he would bolt for the woods. He knew that he was faster than all of the other kids. He could get to the crash site before anyone else. As long as he did NOT go fishing with Krillin. He didn't want to go anyway.

He crawled back into bed, still smiling about the possibility of a magic stone. Settling back into his pillows, Gohan closed his eyes, already dreaming.

_Pain. Heat._ Something was digging into his chest, wrapping around his neck and strangling him. Couldn't breathe, couldn't try to speak. He attempted a snarl, but it came out with a gurgle. Indigo blood dribbled down his chin and soaked the front of his shirt.

_Where was he?_

_Who? _

_Don't think, idiot! There's time for that later. Get. Out. __**NOW**__._

The belt was stuck. Snarling viciously, he tore at the belt, claws making short work of the material. His adrenaline high covered up the agony of his injuries. Mangled metal crunched against him, some of it slicing into his side. Probably had broken ribs. He lurched across the ruined craft's floor.

"P-Piccolo!" he gasped, voice gravely, as he reached the hatch. Nothing happened. "Piccolo!" again, the password failed. The hatch was jammed shut. If he stopped moving, the adrenaline would fade and he wouldn't be able to move. In a last ditch effort to free himself, he slammed into the hatch. Once, twice. **POP!** Something in his shoulder caved under the stress.

With a grunt of pain, he steeled himself for one more move. The door shifted, and then clanged shut again.

_Something's...blocking...hatch…_ he thought. The last of his adrenaline drained from his blood. He sank to the floor.

"I don't believe it..." Kami murmured, "Ma Junior, you resilient beast..." he shook his head."Nail, Popo, ready two cruisers. He's alive."

"Don't want to fish, buddy?" Krillin asked, holding the door open for Gohan.

"No thank you, Sir," the boy replied, zipping his backpack. Despite his original plan to leave immediately after school, Krillin had requested help cleaning up from a craft project.

"Okay then, Gohan," he patted the child lightly on the shoulders. "Headed straight home?"

For a moment, he considered lying, but Krillin and his mother were too close. He shook his head,

"I wanna play in the woods for a bit." That much was true. The meteorite had crashed in the forest, after all.

"Does your Mother know?"

"I think so."

Krillin frowned, and for half a second, Gohan thought that his teacher was going to insist that he go home. But he smiled, rubbing the back of his waxed head. "You be careful, okay little guy? Don't stay out too long."

Gohan beamed, staring up at him. "Okay."

Krillin walked with him to where the road met the bike path leading into the woods.

"Bye Mister Krillin!" he called, waving as he dashed into the trees. Krillin held up a hand, smiling at the child, before turning down the road.

Gohan bolted into the shadowy trees, headed in the direction of the crash site. His heart pounded in his ears, breath catching in his throat as his little feet pounded on the uneven ground. Even if he only got a friend out of the deal, he would be happy. The possibility of a continuous wishing stone remained foremost in his thoughts. _Maybe...maybe... No! Don't get your hopes up! _Childlike innocence told him that a wish made upon a falling star could not be changed. He had wished for a friend.

Gohan took a short break, leaning against a tree. He gathered his bearings, judging that he only had a few minutes left to travel before reaching where his meteorite had landed.

The trees had started to thin some time ago, as the earth beneath them became too difficult for their roots to take hold. It seemed to Gohan that his meteorite had caused quite a lot of damage; a whole row of ancient pines had been flattened, acting as an arrow pointing him in the right direction.

The destruction became more violent the nearer he came to the site; here and there, trees still smoldered, the acrid scent of ash assailing his nostrils. A few more steps. He stumbled into deep rivets torn into the soft loam; his heart raced, his eyes widened as he took in the scene.

A _space ship_ smoked at the base of the mountain.

Gohan's mouth fell open, this couldn't be real! _A space ship? _Being incredibly advanced for a kindergartner, he instantly noted that the craft was not manmade. At least, not_**hu**__man_ made. It had probably been white, or least a very light grey, before colliding into the mountain. It almost looked like a house, albeit a very round house, with appendages similar to legs. Probably landing gear. Cracks spider webbed across the surface, and large amounts of the outer shell were crumbling. Some of the damage appeared to have been dealt before the crash.

Curious, Gohan crept closer, occasionally flinching away from the ship. He had never seen something like it before, except in fairy tales. Step by careful step, he made his way over to the decimated craft. Gohan peered around the ship, looking for a way to get inside. A sudden thumping noise spooked him, causing him to leap backwards and scurry away from the ship. His tail twitched spasmodically, the fur puffed up like a cat's. Gohan swallowed his fear and returned to the place where the sound was coming from. It seemed incredible to him that anything could have survived the crash, although he mused that the alien inside could have super strength, or any number of interesting powers.

Examining the area where the sound had come from more closely, Gohan noticed a thin circular etching on the ship's hull. _A door?_ He pushed on the stones that obscured the entrance, pleased when they tumbled away. He poked the presumed door tentatively, leaping away with a squeak when it creaked. Clambering up the side, Gohan squeezed his fingers through the door jamb, attempting to pry it open.

The horrible screeching of destroyed hinges snapping assaulted his ears as the hatch trembled, then fell outwards.

"_Phew_, good thing I was up here!" Gohan breathed, panting. "Now... Let's see..." leaning over the entrance, Gohan squinted against the dust and smoke that came pouring out of the cabin. Was that something moving?

Dropping down from the roof into the cabin, Gohan crawled toward the prone figure on the floor.

"Oh wow..." he breathed; the alien was humanoid in figure, although much bigger than any man Gohan had ever seen - besides his grandfather, that is - and green. Its ears were long and tapered into points. The four fingered hands ended in sharp claws that complimented the two canines he could see in the slightly open mouth. It also had antennae, and not a single hair on its head. Gohan reached out, touching its cheek, feeling the smooth, human-like skin brushing past his fingertips. Suddenly its eyes snapped open and it snarled, baring the fangs Gohan had merely glimpsed before. He recoiled, whipping his hand back in fear. "Please don't eat me!" the words were out before he realized he had even thought them.

Much to his surprise, lips slipped back over fangs, and the threatening snarl turned into a warning growl. Gohan noted the red irises of the alien's eyes, and he shivered slightly. Once he was certain that the alien wasn't going to eat him, Gohan examined it in a little more detail. Blood - at least he thought it was blood, since it was purple - soaked the floor around its body, coating it's neck and chest. The shirt it was wearing was all but destroyed, torn and soaked with gore. It looked like a man, but he didn't want to insult it...just in case... The alien's heavy, strained breaths worried him; it might not make it. The thought of it dying filled him with an inexplicable sadness.

"I'm going to help you," he whispered. The alien stared at him, saying nothing.


	2. Dance with the Devil

Convincing his alien that it had to move was more difficult than he thought it would be.

"If anyone finds you, they'll call the gover'ment or something and then scary men will catch you and do all sorts of experiments on you!" Gohan half dragged the would-be seven-foot-tall alien up the side of the mountain, and around the base. His new potential friend was not being very helpful, although Gohan suspected that it had something to do with the copious amounts of blood it had lost. The alien hissed and growled, and Gohan occasionally heard what sounded like words, although in a language he had never heard before. He decided that one of the words, which the alien spat in a demonic snarl quite often, must be a very naughty word indeed.

Finally, they reached his destination; a small crevice in the side of the mountain, nearly invisible behind a curtain of ivy vines. "This is where it'll get a little tricky," Gohan helped his alien to lean against the rock face, "see, the entrance to the cave is pretty small, but once you're inside, it's really big. I know because I hide here sometimes. I think you'll fit if you go sideways. But I don't think you can stand."

The green man blinked, scowling.

Gohan still wasn't sure that it could understand him, but it was obviously an intelligent being, so he did his best to explain everything to it. "You rest here for a minute, okay? There's a stream not far from here. I'm going to get you some water." He pointed at himself while he spoke. "You stay here," now he pointed to the alien, gesturing around the rock face. "I'll be right back." Gohan scuttled around the massive alien, climbing over some larger boulders to reach the mountain stream. Unscrewing the lid to his water bottle, he refilled it with the crisp, cold spring water. "I wonder if it'll let me use what's left of that cape for bandages," he mused, capping the bottle, "those wounds are pretty icky looking." Gohan returned to where he had left the alien, and immediately tensed. "Wh-where'd you go?" he looked around nervously, half expecting it to leap out of hiding and devour him. "Excuse me...?" he called, "where are you?" That's when he noticed the blood trail. "Oh..." Gohan walked easily through the cave's entrance, parting the ivy before him. The alien was sprawled out on its side, breathing rapid and strained. Creasing his brow with worry, Gohan sat down next to his alien, offering it the water bottle. "Just twist the cap like this," he demonstrated. "And don't drink too much too fast, okay? You might get sick."

The alien did not move. Its eyes were unfocused and cloudy, and bloody saliva dripped out the corner of its mouth. Its body convulsed with tremors.

Gohan felt tears well up behind his eyes, "you poor thing," he whispered, "bet you were just scared earlier, weren't you? Well, don't worry. I'm gonna help you get better." Fashioning a pillow out of the remnants of the alien's once-white cape, Gohan did his best to make his charge comfortable. "I wish I had a blanket with me," he said to the alien, "I'll bring one to you tomorrow, okay? And more water, and food." he gently touched the alien's face, feeling its green skin once again. "Stay safe okay?"

"Why isn't he healing himself?" Popo asked, looking up at Kami, "did you do something to him before he escaped?"

Kami nodded grimly. Popo and Nail were minutes away from disembarking to the inhabited planet of Earth. He wished, not for the first time, that he was younger, so that he might confront the evil Ma Junior himself, but his bones were brittle, and his muscles slack with age. He was not what he used to be...

"Along with the sedatives to capture him, we injected him with an inhibitor. It will be some time before his regenerative abilities are restored. You must capture him before that happens."

"Do we have a lock on his location?" the tall, handsome Namekian warrior, Nail, interrupted. He was eager to leave, as was evident by the way he carried himself; tall, proud, confident. Kami marveled at how similar his Ma Junior was to Nail. They could have been twins, except for a few..._minor_...details. Ma Junior, too, carried himself with pride, but there was a cockiness to him that seemed to be a direct result of his intrinsic evil, and of course, there were the eyes. A normal Namekian's eyes were black, or dark brown, with the occasional grey thrown in the mix. Ma Junior's were red. Crimson. His father had been the same way.

Kami shook his head, both to clear his thoughts and to answer Nail's question.

"No. When he entered the atmosphere, we lost his signal. The way the ship was careening out of control made it impossible to even speculate."

"Hmph," Nail grunted, checking his ship once more, ensuring he had all of his necessary items. "And if he manages to regain control of his body before we are able to capture him?"

"Kill him."

Popo patted his friend's arm, "are you sure you want me to go, Kami? We can send one of the others."

"No Mister Popo... I am afraid that I must ask you. Besides Nail and myself, only you have faced Ma Junior," _and lived_, he added silently.

"Kami..." Popo began, "if it should come to...drastic measures... Know that you are my very best friend."

Kami nodded solemnly, clasping a wizened hand on the genie's shoulder. "As are you to me."

"Gohan, where do you think you're going?" Gohan flinched, removing his had from the door knob.

"I was... I was gonna go play in the woods... I found a fawn yesterday. It was hurt." The only false part of that statement was "fawn". He turned slowly to face his mother, already preparing the puppy dog face. "I finished all of my homework, and I even started my essay."

Chichi frowned down at her son; he looked and sounded honest enough. Yet something seemed..._off_...about the boy.

"Krillin says you didn't want to go fishing with him?"

"I... I wanted to play in the woods..." Gohan had completely forgotten about the puppy eyes. "I...I don't wanna go fishing. Ever again."

Chichi's eyes softened, Goku had loved taking their son fishing. It had only been a month. Of course Gohan didn't want to do anything that reminded him of his father.

"How long do you plan on being gone?" She asked, more gently.

"Dunno," Gohan scuffed his toes against the floor. "Maybe two hours?"

"One hour."

"Yes Mama."

He was genuinely surprised at how easily his mother had given in, yet he wasn't about to stop and complain. Gohan quickly traversed the distance to the hidden cave. Nimbly leaping over roots and fallen trees, Gohan reached the ivy covered entrance in record time, calling out as he slipped between the hanging vines. "Hey, I'm back! I brought water, food, medicine and bandages!"

The alien hadn't moved much, besides rolling onto its back. It lifted its head as Gohan entered, growling quietly in its chest. "You're okay," he said in a soft voice. "I'm not going to hurt you, remember? I helped you yesterday."

The growl never ceased, but its head fell back onto the makeshift pillow. Gohan decided that his alien was more bark than bite, and approached relatively fearless. Crouching down next to the green giant, Gohan touched a hand to its head, just like his mother did when he was sick. It felt hot. Beads of sweat trickled down the alien's forehead, between the two raised ridges that took the place of eyebrows, cutting clean patches through the violet blood. He frowned, "you're a lot hotter than I am, but for all I know, that's normal for your people..." he supposed he was over thinking it. The green man was shivering after all. Reaching into his "adventure bag" Gohan pulled out several packages of gauze, antiseptic, washcloths, and ace bandages. He soaked one washcloth with lukewarm water from the tap at home, and began to wipe the blood from its face.

It did not react, other than to scrunch its eyes closed. "You're really smart," Gohan commented, finishing with the face and moving on the wound on its throat, "you can understand me, can't you? I'll bet that when you're feeling better, you'll talk to me too." He dabbed gently at the lacerations across the alien's chest. "Maybe we can be friends?" Gohan looked hopefully at the alien's impassive face before sighing, "I just hope you get better soon..."

_Why_ wasn't the small alien child fleeing from him? _Everyone_ in the universe feared him. _No one_ wanted to _help_ him! Be near him, touch him, be...be... _Friends_...with him! Him! _Ma Junior_, the son of the Great Demon King Piccolo! Why... Why was this boy breaking all of the rules? Did he really ...seem... that... weak...?

He slipped into oblivion.

At some point, the alien had fallen into unconsciousness. Although, Gohan supposed, that was probably better... He hadn't put the antiseptic on yet... And the green man was covered in wounds. It was going to sting. _A lot_. Maybe having it asleep was better...

He carefully unscrewed the lid to the antiseptic, pouring it onto large cotton swabs. Reaching over to the wound on the alien's throat, he pressed the cotton ball on to the cut.

The alien's eyes burst open, and with a roar, it pinned Gohan to the wall, talons wrapped around the soft flesh of the boy's throat.

He couldn't move, speak, nor breathe. Soft black eyes stared helplessly into ruby red irises. It looked truly monstrous, fangs bared, scarlet eyes narrowed, breath hot on his face.

"I-it's for t-th-the cuts! It k-ke-keeps them fr-from getting infected!" Tears welled up in his eyes, "I know it stings, but - but you have to let me put it on or you'll get sick and _you'll die!" _he screamed the last part, wriggling in the alien's viselike grip. "Now put me down!"

The alien dropped him, although Gohan was unsure whether or not it had complied with his wishes, or simply run out of energy. "Thank you." He gestured to the wound on its neck. "Now let me finish!"

The green man had held still for the remainder of the hour, allowing Gohan to bandage its wounds. He left it leaning against the cave wall, not far from the water and food. He had tucked a blanket around the alien's broad shoulders. Before he had left, he had showed it once again how to use a water bottle, and what all of the food was.

"I'll be back tomorrow, now just stay in the cave, okay?" he had called, leaving through the ivy vines. "Oh! I almost forgot!" he poked his head back inside, "My name's Gohan, and I'm five."

He was pleased at his alien's progress. Several days had elapsed since he had first found it, half dead in the wreckage of its own ship, and now he was certain that it would indeed live. Every time he returned, all of the water would be gone, but only small amount of the food – usually fruit – would have been eaten. Only this morning he had entered the cave to find it sitting up all by itself, not even leaning against the cave wall. Even better, it seemed to have taken a liking to him, no longer growling at him when he showed up, or touched it.

"I'm going to take the bandage off of your neck," Gohan said slowly, gesturing to his own neck to aid in his explanation.

_/ I am capable of caring for myself now /_ Gohan leapt a good three feet into here air, looking around wildly for the source of the deep, rumbling voice in his head. Slowly, he turned, staring at the alien. His mouth fell open slightly.

"Was...that you?"

_/Surely you are not so surprised? As I recall, you claimed that I would speak to you. /_

"You're a tele-telo-telepath?"

_/ That I am. /_

"Whoa...l... That's pretty cool." Gohan shuffled his feet, "um... Sir...?" he hesitated, and it seemed amused.

_/Yes. Now stop referring to me as an 'it'."/ _

Gohan nodded fervently, black bangs bouncing on his forehead.

"Yes Sir! Right away sir, um... Do you want me to unwrap the bandage...? Or do you want to?" In answer, the green man - _/Namekian/_ he interjected - sliced the gauze bandage with a claw, and began to unwrap it. The skin beneath it was not completely healed, a fact that seemed to bother the Namekian greatly. It was still slightly puffy, the green flesh tinged with yellow. "It doesn't look infected," Gohan climbed up the alien's shoulder to get a better look, "but I think we should wrap that up again with some more antiseptic."

_/Damn the Old Man,/_ the Namekian snarled, _/ weakening me like this!/_ Gohan had the distinct impression that he should not ask, it seemed to be one of those comments made to oneself, that others were not meant to hear.

"I'll get the bandages!" he chirruped, jumping down from the Namekian's broad shoulders, "Unwrap your chest please, and we'll see how that's coming along."

His alien grunted, evidently annoyed at being given an order, but complied. "What's your name?" he asked, returning with fresh bandages and antiseptic.

_/Ma.../_ the alien paused, _/My name is…Piccolo./_

"Piccolo? Like the instrument?"

_/It means "Other World"/_ Piccolo growled at him, glaring.

"'Gohan' means 'Rice'."

Piccolo grunted, and allowed Gohan to clean the still healing wounds on his neck and chest. "This one on your back looks all better," he said, "There's only a little scar."

_/That will disappear once my body returns to a fully functioning state./_

"What do you mean?" Gohan queried, cocking his head to the side, "fully functioning...?"

_/I am healing more quickly than you expected, yes?/_ at Gohan's nod, Piccolo continued. _/At my full strength, I could regrow severed limbs./_

"Really? That's pretty cool!" Gohan finished wrapping Piccolo's chest, "If I lost my arm or something I'd have to get a fake one."

Piccolo's ears twitched, but he said nothing.

"Hey Mister Piccolo?" Gohan asked, and when no response came, he continued, "can you teach me how to talk with my head? Or do you have to be a Namekian?"

Piccolo's eyes opened, and he examined Gohan's face. He blinked once, and shrugged his good shoulder.

_/I can talk,/_ he said_, /However my throat was damaged in the crash. I see no point in causing myself discomfort./_ The Namekian seemed to think about Gohan's question for a long moment, furrowing his brow. _/I know not if your species is capable of telepathic conversation./_

"Oh, well, we can try!" Gohan beamed, settling down next to the tall alien. "By the way, why do you talk like that?"

_/Like what?/_

"Like...'I know not' and stuff like that. Fancy and old sounding."

Piccolo raised a brow ridge.

_/I am only learning your language now./_

"Oh," Gohan began re-packing his bag, "I was gonna say that you sounded kind of cool. Like a Noble or something from a Fairy Tale."

Piccolo looked uncomfortable.

_/ You talk too much/_ he growled.

Trembling fingers set the phone back on its base. Chichi sank onto the couch. This couldn't be happening. Not now.

Gohan was asleep in his bed, blissfully unaware of the conversation she had just had.

She knew that Gohan didn't fit in at school. She knew he was picked on... She knew that he was upset over Goku. But that the school had called a social worker? _Because of her __**depression?**_ They thought that _her medical problem_ was the cause of Gohan's issues at school? And now someone was going to come and judge whether or not she was fit to be his mother? This couldn't be happening. Chichi stared blankly at the wall, not seeing the dozens of family photos framed there. _"Oh Goku..."_ she whispered, eyes watering.

Piccolo opened one eye, watching Gohan with feigned disinterest. The boy, in truth, intrigued him. Gohan lay on his stomach, feet up in the air, scribbling intently with colored sticks on a white, flimsy, flat thing. The corners of Piccolo's lips twitched upwards involuntarily, an action he quickly reversed, returning his face to his customary scowl. Gohan's tongue stuck out of his mouth, likely a product of his concentration. He was a comical sight.

Piccolo closed his eyes again to better ignore the child that insisted upon treating him like a stray cat. The boy was a puzzle to him; innocent, happy...sweet_._ He turned those words over in his mind several times, contemplating their meanings. None of them had ever been used to describe him, nor had he ever had occasion to use them. Piccolo could wrap his mind around the general concept of the words:_ sweet_ had a sugary connotation, reminding him of the fruit juice Gohan had forced on him one day instead of water; _happy_ meant the opposite of sad... Was it similar to excitement? He had experienced excitement before... But _innocent_...Innocence was something he could not comprehend. He had never been innocent, he had always been hated, always feared, never..._loved_. Not even liked.

The scowl turned to frown, and very quickly a grimace, as unwanted memories surged to the surface. He shook his head, forcing them back down.

"Mister Piccolo?" Gohan's voice broke his concentration, "You look unhappy. Does something hurt?" Much to Piccolo's consternation, Gohan had crawled into his lap before he could shove him away.

_/I'm fine, Kid,/_ he growled. _/And what the Hell have I told you about climbing all over me?/_

_/You told me not to, but I can tell you don't care,/ _Gohan replied. It took Piccolo a moment to realize that the bright-eyed child had just spoken to him with his mind. He blinked once, surprised. Almost impressed.

_/How long have you known how to that?/_

Gohan beamed, settling against his chest, (much to the indignation of Piccolo).

_/I practiced with my mom. She only seemed to get the idea of what I was thinking though, like I said "I'm hungry" and after a minute she looked up and asked what I wanted for dinner./_

Piccolo considered plopping the boy on the floor of cave, but something stayed his hand; he allowed the boy to stay.

_/Guess only some humans are capable of telepathy./_

"Mmhmm." Gohan's tail wrapped around Piccolo's wrist possessively and the boy drifted off to sleep. _Ridiculous! Overly trusting idiot of a boy..._

_**Look at yourself, a pillow for a toddler. You're just about healed, that damn poison's finally working its way out of you. Just kill the kid and get on with your life. That Old Fool might not even find you here. If you lie low...**_

He pushed the voice from his mind, and began untangling the child's annoying tail from his wrist.

Nail and Popo searched, without much luck, for traces of Ma Junior. Nail growled angrily deep in his chest, he wanted to capture the bastard as soon as possible, even if he had to seal him himself, he would bring the Son of Daimao to justice. In his escape, the demon had killed four of his warriors, all good men, all young and full of life... Until Ma Junior stole it from them. Nail bared his fangs, they would be avenged.

In his mind's eye, he saw the pained surprise upon their bloodied faces, the shock, horror, desperation... One of them (or all of them collectively) had wounded Ma Junior, as was evident by the blood in the escape pod chamber. He shook his head, the demon would be almost healed by now, he would be nearly impossible to catch...

"Popo, let's split up, we'll cover more ground that way. If you find anything, head back to our ship. Regardless, be back there in three hours."

"Be on your toes, Nail," Popo said solemnly.

Nail grunted in acknowledgement, turning away to search nearer the mountains he could see in the distance.

"Don't let the locals catch sight of you," he threw over his shoulder.

The tall Namekian stalked silently through the thinning trees, observing the alien organisms with interest. Some were similar to creatures on his home planet, others were entirely foreign. Nail's quick eyes caught their every movement, learning their habits and mannerisms in moments. He listened to the bird song, spied a doe and her fawn, and watched for signs of Ma Junior.

Nail knelt to examine a burn mark in the once soft loam, feeling the scarred earth under sensitive finger tips. His blood pounded in his ears, _Was this it?_

His eyes followed the trail, meeting the burned out wreck that had once been a space ship.

Must be a primitive planet, he mused, this has been here since Junior crash-landed a week ago.

He debated on going back to his own ship, and waiting for Popo, but his anger burned too hot in his chest. _If the demon remained near the ship... _He was about to approach the ship when something inside of it moved. Nail froze, trusting in the surrounding foliage to camouflage him. He sighed as a furry black animal trundled out from under the hull of the ship. Ma Junior was nowhere near it then… He would come back with Popo later, and the two would explore the wreckage. Nail shook his head, his rational side taking over.

_I'm no match for a fully powered Ma Junior… _

He turned and headed back to camp, subtly marking the way to the crash.

"Gohan, honey, come in here, please."

His ears pricked at the unusual tone in his mother's voice. He slid off his chair, leaving the almost-finished essay on the kitchen table.

"Mama?" Gohan peered around the kitchen door, "are you alright?"

Chichi sat, straight as a board, on the couch; a strange, short woman stared at him from the chair across from the couch. His mother's eyes were glassy, her mouth drawn tight and straight.

He did not want to enter the room. He wanted to crawl under his bed and hide, or run to Mister Piccolo. No one would find him in Mister Piccolo's hidden cave.

"Come here, Gohan."

Gohan watch the squatty old woman warily as he made his way to Chichi, crawling up on the couch next to her.

_Something's wrong._

_Who is this old lady? Why is she in my house…?_

_What's wrong with Mommy?_

He was scared, and hugged his tail self-consciously, leaning closer to his mother. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling weakly at him.

"Gohan, this is Miss Baba. She just wants to talk to you."

Gohan glanced between his mother and the ancient woman, Baba. She was very small and squatty, and her skin wrinkled like a piece of homework lost at the bottom of a backpack.

"Say, 'Hello' Sweetheart," his mother prompted gently, that odd note still painfully present in her voice.

"Hello, Ma'am…" Gohan mumbled, wringing his tail in his hands. He scooted closer to his mother.

"Hello Gohan," Baba replied, "Do you know why I'm here?" At the shake of his head, she continued. "Your school sent me. They said that you've been having some troubles?"

Gohan stared at her, eyes wide. He nodded slowly.

"At…at school…"

"Can you tell me about them? Your problems?"

"Um," Gohan glanced at his mother, who nodded. Her dark eyes seemed to say that it was all going to be okay. "Um, some of the other kids don't like me. They think I'm weird." He hesitated, chewing on the tip of his tail, "so they pick on me. But it's okay."

"Is it okay because your friends stick up for you?" Baba peered at him over a clip board.

"Mister Krillin tells them not to, and he sends them to the principle. He lets me eat lunch with him."

"The principle?"

"No," Gohan shook his head, "Mister Krillin. I help Mister Krillin clean up from crafts and we eat lunch together and color together."

Baba bobbed her head, scribbling something down. He didn't like it when she did that. It made him nervous.

"What are you writing?"

"Gohan," his mother scolded gently, "don't be rude."

"Oh," he mumbled, "sorry."

"Not at all, not at all," Baba crooned, "just some notes, dear."

Gohan looked at his feet, and put his tail back in his mouth.

"Gohan, baby, don't do that, you'll chew all of the fur off." Chichi murmured, "And Miss Baba won't be able to hear you."

"Sorry…"

"What about your friends," Baba asked again.

Gohan felt tears spring unbidden to his eyes. He had no friends. Only his mother, his grandfather, Mister Krillin…and Mister Piccolo. But his mother and grandfather had to love him, so they didn't count. And Krillin was only nice to him because he had been best friends with his father. That only left Piccolo. _Was Piccolo his friend? He had never said so… But he must like me, _the boy thought,_ he must be my friend… He has to be. He __**has**__ to be!_

"I only have…one friend." He said quietly. "Well, two." He remembered Petunia, how could he have forgotten her?

"Good, good," she nodded, "what are their names? How often do you play with them?"

Gohan swallowed. He couldn't tell them about Piccolo. Piccolo was his secret. Piccolo didn't like new people, and he didn't like noise. He couldn't let them find Piccolo.

"Well… I…I give Petunia a peanut butter sandwich every Tuesday."Gohan felt his mother tense, "she's a crow. And she controls the weather. So I give her a peanut butter sandwich to keep her happy." His mind was racing, "and then there's a…fawn…" He trailed off, realizing that Baba was staring at him. "I don't have any human friends."

"I see…" She said, almost too quietly for him to hear. Chichi was stiff as a board next to him. He had a sneaking suspicion that he had said something wrong.


	3. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride

SO here's chapter 3 :)  
Thank you to my lovely reveiwers! It means so much. Oh and if anyone is curious as to the chapter names, they're the songs I was listening to while writing the story, and thus make up the "soundtrack."

LOVE YOU ALL!

Enjoy!  
_

This place was full of enigmas. Piccolo lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the cave. He was mesmerized by the…the…light. It only happened when the sun had set, and darkness filtered through the small skylights that dotted the cave. Little luminescent organisms clung to the ceiling and walls of the modest cave, keeping the inky blackness of night away.

Piccolo hated the dark.

He had never told anyone that, he had never even fully admitted it to himself. Here, in this cave, this wonderful, strange cave, there was no true dark. Something was always glowing. Piccolo allowed a small smile to slip across his lips, and he closed his eyes. He was too tired for mere meditation. Besides, the Kid wanted to learn how to levitate tomorrow, and Piccolo had a feeling that it would be more taxing on his still healing body than he expected.

He was awakened in the middle of night by the sound of feet crunching on the pebbles by the entrance. The bio-light still glowed; morning and the Kid were still hours off. His ears pricked for more sound and he remained frozen, on his back, not daring to move until he knew what was out there.

"Do you see anything, Nail?" An all-too-familiar voice whispered, making Piccolo's blood freeze. Popo. Nail? Was Kami there too?

"No, nothing. Not a damn thing!" Nail wasn't even bothering to whisper. He was growling loud enough to wake a village. "I don't understand, his ship is at the base of the mountain, we know he's alive, and yet there's no sign of him!"

_Kid must be right; the entrance must be nearly indiscernible. _

"Nail, please, keep your voice down!"

"WHY? So he won't hear me? Well at this point, I'd be thrilled if he leapt out at me. At least I'd know where he was! He killed four of my best men! FOUR!" Piccolo slowly stood, moving mere centimeters with each passing second. If it came to a fight, he would be prepared. "Now I have to bring their carcasses back to Namek! Did you know that Tarte had a son? What am I supposed to tell Tatin? 'Your father died trying to recapture Ma Junior?' We already had the demon. Kami didn't do what was necessary, and now four Namekians are dead! DEAD!"

"Nail, you know as well as I do that they can be brought back."

"Three of them. Only three. How can I choose which of my men will remain with the ancestors? If I can kill Ma Junior, then at least they will not have died in vain."

Piccolo slid silently into an offensive stance, waiting for Nail or Popo to stumble on the hidden entrance.

"If he dies, so does Kami," Popo reminded him, "our goal is to capture him."

Nail roared, blasting a crater in the earth, - Piccolo hoped that it was on the other side of the trail, he didn't want a careless Gohan falling in and getting hurt – then answered Popo:

"Fine, we capture him. But if it gets out of hand, I'm going all out."

"I understand." Popo's voice was quiet. "Please, Nail, let's leave this place. Ma Junior isn't here."

Piccolo did not relax until the duo was far, far away from him. He slowly became aware of the throbbing in his half-healed leg, and the burning in his chest. He sank slowly to floor of the cave.

He wondered why he hadn't just attacked them. They wouldn't have stood a chance, even wounded as he was, he could have overpowered them, outfoxed them. Yet he hadn't.

_Why didn't I just kill them?_

Gohan wrinkled his nose, trying to focus his energy flow. Piccolo was attempting to project a mental image of the proper current, but Gohan couldn't seem to get it. For the most part, he had been able to pick up on most of Piccolo's tricks relatively quickly, but floating didn't seem to be his forte.

_/You're not focusing. Your mind is everywhere./_ Piccolo's eyes were closed, head bowed and chin resting on his chest.

_/I don't understand what I'm doing wrong./_ The child attempted to imitate the giant's pose, but failed to emulate the green man's stern demeanor. He peeked at his mentor, shifting slightly to better copy his seat_. / I'm trying to think of the air currents like I read about in a text book and - /_

_/Don't think of something you've never experienced. Have you ever ridden an air current? No? Then put it from your mind. Think of something in your life./ _

Gohan flushed, and his tail wagged agitatedly.

"Can you talk yet?"

_/No. It's painful and I don't like the feeling of blood running down my throat./_

_/ I think you can and you just like to make me not talk as much./_

Piccolo grunted, opening one eye and casting a glare in the boy's direction.

_/Just think of something that has made you feel like you are levitating./_

Pouting, Gohan scrunched over, furrowing his brow and frowning. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he concentrated. His tail lashed violently.

_/Kid, you can't __**force**__ it./_ At least Piccolo sounded amused, _/You're going to explode./_ Gohan turned around, surprised, at the definite chuckle in his voice. _/Perhaps we should try again tomorrow?/ _ The corners of the Namekian's mouth were twitching, and Gohan was positive he saw a twinkle in the cherry irises. It was the first time that Piccolo had truly appeared kind. Gohan soon found himself smiling, his frustration evaporating by the second.

"Hey Piccolo?" Gohan rested his head on the man's knee, tilting his face up to look at the alien. "I want to go swimming. Do you want to come with me?"

He could see the dilemma pass over Piccolo's face.

_/Kid…/_ His long ears flicked several times,_ /I… Where?/_

Gohan beamed, twisting around and hugging Piccolo's knee.

"The ocean's just on the other side of the mountain…" He let the sentence hang in the air, tilting his head to the side, allowing his bangs to fall across his forehead and away from his eyes. He poured all of his childlike cuteness into his round, bright eyes. Piccolo melted. Gohan was ecstatic.

"Let's go!" Gohan tugged on Piccolo's hand, marveling at the difference in their anatomies. Four fingers versus five, long ears versus short, green skin versus varying tints and shades of tan. Piccolo slowly stood, still favoring his injured leg.

_/Easy, Kid./ _He allowed Gohan to drag him across the cave towards the entrance. _/Wait,/ _Gohan felt Piccolo tense, and looked up at him,_ /I don't know…/_

Gohan readjusted his grip on Piccolo's hand,

_/Don't worry Piccolo, no one is going to see you. And if they do, I'll chase them away./_

He smiled sweetly, and was rewarded when Piccolo returned the gesture.

_/I'm not afraid of your kind/_ he paused, _/I just thought I heard something./_ Gohan smiled at the sheepish tone in the Namekian's voice.

_/Scaredy Cat./_ Gohan ducked to avoid Piccolo's half-threatening hand, giggling and dashing out of the hidden cave. "Come on Piccolo!" He waited while Piccolo squeezed through the narrow entrance, parting the ivy._ It's the first time he's been outside the cave!_ He realized, watching Piccolo take in his surroundings_. I thought for sure he would have come out for sun before this! I guess he's never needed water since I bring him some every day, and he doesn't exactly eat much…_

_/How far is it?/_

"Are you scared?" Gohan dashed back to the seven-foot-tall Piccolo, grabbing his hand, "We can just sit here, if you want. I don't need to go swimming. It's okay."

_/How far is it?/ _

_/A few minutes' walk./_

Piccolo made a small noise of affirmation, and allowed Gohan to lead him gently down the other side of the mountain.

_/I'm not scared./ _Piccolo snapped.

_/Okay./_

Gohan walked methodically, careful to pick his way slowly down the slope, allowing Piccolo to take his time. Occasionally, the Namekian would wince painfully, taking an awkward step and sending shooting pains through the wounds.

_/I thought that I would be healed by now…/ _Piccolo commented,_ /Never has an injury taken so long to recover./_

_/I'm sorry./ _Gohan squeezed his hand sympathetically._ /Sometimes the kids at school pull my tail and it makes me sick. Then it hurts for a long time./_

Piccolo glanced down at him, a question in his eyes.

_/They think I'm weird./_

_/Why?/_

Gohan twitched his tail, shaking his head.

Piccolo didn't press him. That's what he liked about Piccolo. He listened, but didn't ask for more information than Gohan was willing to give. Out of respect for that courtesy, Gohan never asked him where he had been going when he crashed, or why he had crashed_. _

_/Do you want to get there a little faster?/ _Piccolo asked, after a moment of comfortable silence.

Gohan furrowed his brow,

"How? I'm not going to tell you to catch up and you can't run."

In answer, Piccolo grabbed the back of Gohan's bright yellow jacket and hoisted him easily into his arms. Gohan gasped, clinging to Piccolo's neck. "What are you going to – Oh boy!" Very suddenly, Gohan found himself staring down at the trail, a good fifty feet below him. "YOU CAN FLY?"

Piccolo did not feel that the question warranted a response. They were flying after all. It was something he could easily teach the Kid, if he ever managed to simply hover. He knew that Gohan would question why he hadn't just offered to fly them to the ocean in the first place; they would be there already if he had. The answer was simple.

Nail and Popo's energy-signatures were too close to risk raising his ki to the level that flying required. Now, they were out of range of his superior sensing capabilities. They couldn't sense him unless he flew too fast, or tried blasting something while flying. He wasn't giving off all that much ki at this speed. They wouldn't be able to find him. Suddenly he was aware of the Kid shaking in his arms.

_/What?/ _

He didn't respond._ /Kid?/ _

_/P-please don't drop me. Or do any loop-de-loops, or dives, or spins or - /_

Piccolo held him a little closer, a little tighter.

_/Sure, Kid./_

Touching down on the sand, Piccolo disentangled Gohan from his neck, setting him down gently.

"That was, that was kind of fun!" Gohan was still shaking, but the petrified grimace had been replaced by a grin. "Do you think you can teach me how to do that?"

_/Let's work on floating first, eh?/_

Gohan nodded so quickly that Piccolo worried his head would bob right off of his body.

_/I thought you wanted to go swimming?/_

"I do."

Piccolo nodded to the waiting ocean.

_/It's right over there./_

"Aren't you coming with me?"

Piccolo shook his head, sitting in the air.

_/Not my thing./_

"Okay… But what if there's a shark, or a super strong current, or a jellyfish swarm or giant octopus or –" He stopped when Piccolo snarled, baring his dagger-like fangs. _Ooops…_ But Piccolo stood, still growling, and stomped towards the water.

_/If I get an infection you're dead, got it?/_

_/Nothing's still open, right?/_

_/…No… The skin has closed up./_

_/Then you're fine!/ _Gohan kicked off his shoes, yanking his socks from his feet and leaving his shirt and jacket securely tucked under them. Giggling, he dove into the water hoping he would be able to sneak his shorts and underwear into the wash before his mother noticed that they smelled like the sea.

Dashing through the foamy waves, Gohan checked to see if Piccolo was following him. To his delight, the Namekian cast his tattered plum shirt to the wind and stepped into the ocean. _I'll have to find something for him to wear. I can't believe I never thought about that before!_

Pushing the embarrassment aside, Gohan splashed the approaching Piccolo.

_/Quit it./_

"Aww, come on Piccolo! It's just for fun," Gohan pouted, swimming out a little farther and treading water, "please! Just splash around for a little!"

_/I'm here to keep you from getting eaten./_

"Please!"

_/No./_ Piccolo shook his head, crossing his arms across his chest, the water only came up to his waist.

"Why not?" Gohan paddled out a little farther, raising his voice to match the distance.

_/Because./_ Piccolo followed him, keeping a wary eye on the water.

"'Because' is not an answer!"

_/Come back in closer, you're above a drop off./ _The water reached his chest now, and he actually looked concerned._ /I mean it, Kid, get back here./_

Gohan stuck out his tongue in response and dove under the water. Before the salty sea crashed over his head he heard Piccolo swear colorfully in his native language.

He liked being under the water, the muted sounds of the world above him seemed so distant. Being a frequenter of the ocean, his eyes weren't bothered by the salt, so he opened them. And screamed. Or at least, opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of bubbles.

Piccolo's fangs were less than an inch from his face, his dark-cherry irises glowed scarlet in the distorted sunlight. Grabbing the child by the wrist, Piccolo dragged him back up to the surface.

_/When I tell you to do something, you do it, got it?/_

"Did I scare you?"

Piccolo grunted, not releasing his arm until they were a satisfactory distance from the drop off, back in the crystal blue of the shallows. Gohan didn't swim far from Piccolo's side after that, although he persisted in his attempts to get the Namekian swimming.

"Come on, Piccolo!" He shrieked, riding a particularly large wave into shore, "try it! You'll like it!" Wiping his hair from his face, Gohan paddled back out to catch another surge. "Whoa!" It was larger than he expected, and sent him tumbling through the spray. Spluttering, Gohan stood up, spitting out the salt. "Ptoo! Yuck."

_/Serves you right./_

Gohan looked up, barely catching the humor in his odd companion's tone. He smiled uncertainly, gesturing back out to the waves.

"It's lots of fun, Piccolo."

The Namekian stared thoughtfully at him, slowly uncrossing his arms from his chest. His eyes followed the flow of the waves, a calculating expression settling in the cherry irises. Piccolo made a quiet noise in his chest, gaze falling on Gohan.

_/Do you have to use your body, or is there a board…?/_

"Um… I have one at home…"

Piccolo raised an eyebrow.

_/What does it look like?/_

Gohan quickly conjured up an image of his small surfboard, and the ones his mother and father used. He felt a pang of sadness at the image of his father's bright orange board, decorated with the Turtle Sigil.

Piccolo seemed to sense his emotion, narrowing his eyes slightly and crinkling his nose. To Gohan's relief, Piccolo didn't ask.

"Uh, Piccolo?," Gohan sculled closer to his seven-foot-tall companion, "what are you doing?"

_/Making two boards./_ Piccolo closed his eyes, right arm out stretched, left hand curled into a sign. Gohan raised an eyebrow skeptically, until a small flash of light from his hands zapped the water, leaving two purple surfboards floating there.

"WHOA!" Gohan fell back, landing on his butt with a splash. "How did you do that?"

Piccolo shrugged, and pushed the smaller board to Gohan.

_/I assume you sit on it?/_

"Well, you can, I guess, but you're supposed to stand," the boy had already pulled himself up onto his board, and was beginning to paddle out to deeper water. He heard Piccolo made a small noise of annoyance and follow him on the larger board. "You like purple, don't you, Piccolo?"

_/Yes. I like it very much./_

"Do you love purple?"

Gohan lay on his belly on the board, looking down through the crystal clear ocean waters, awaiting an answer.

_/I don't "love." It is a foreign concept. And a useless emotion./_

That stung.

"No it isn't." Gohan snapped, looking up at Piccolo, who was floating a few feet from him. "It's what parents feel for children, and the other way around and –"

_/My people don't have mothers. And I never met my father. Even if I had, I would have felt nothing for him except hatred. And he would have felt the same for me./_ The bitterness in Piccolo's voice was not missed by the five-year-old. He wondered why Piccolo felt that way, and was surprised to see loneliness flit across the Namekian's face. _/I have never been loved. I have always been chased from others, and treated with harshness. Therefore, I do not understand it./ _He fixed Gohan with a very intense stare, _/Perhaps it is not useless. I should not have said that./ _

_That was probably Piccolo's way of saying he's sorry, _Gohan thought,_ he just doesn't want to say it outright._

"There's a big wave coming," he said, pointing out to sea, thus ending the awkward conversation. "When you catch it, try to feel your way into standing up, then it's just about staying with the wave and keeping your balance." The last sentence he called out over his shoulder, paddling furiously to catch the oncoming wave.

He loved surfing. He hadn't been since before his father had died. Sometimes he was allowed to go on his own board, as long as Chichi or Goku wasn't far behind, but often he had surfed with his mother, sometimes holding onto her for balance. Goku had been too adventurous for Gohan. Goku had always searched for the largest of the waves, and often ended up riding them in without a board.

Piccolo seemed to be getting the hang of it pretty quickly, and Gohan grinned.

_He likes it. He really does. Oooooooh!_

He had lost control of his board, the nose sunk below the wave, throwing him forward. Bright lights assaulted his vision as he smacked his head on the board. Somersaulting through the crashing wave, he lost any idea of what was up or down. It was all one wet, swirling fall.

Piccolo's head broke the surface, and he shook the water from his face. Gohan's board bobbed not far from his own board, but there was no sign of the Kid.

_Damn it!_ He spun around, searching for him. Nothing. He sought out the boy's life source, and locating it, dove beneath the salty spray.

_There!_

Kicking down a few more feet, Piccolo reached out a clawed hand, wrapping his arm around the boy's chest. Gohan held securely against him, he surged toward the surface.

Dragging Gohan ashore, he slapped the boy on the back several times until he began to splutter and spit out the inhaled ocean.

_/Are you alright?/_

_/Yeah,/_ Gohan replied mentally, still choking on sea water, _/hit me again, would you please?/_

Piccolo raised an eyebrow, grabbing Gohan by the legs and holding him upside down before whacking him on the back again.

_/Ow! Holding me upside down doesn't help!/ _

_/As you give the fish back their home./_ Piccolo placed Gohan on his feet, but the boy promptly fell back on his bottom, wheezing. _/Do you want me to fly you home?/ _

Gohan nodded, rubbing his throat.

"I need to get dressed though," he rasped.

_/Where did you put your coat?/_ Piccolo looked around the beach, not seeing any sign of the boy's shirt, coat and shoes.

"Oh noooo!" Gohan pointed, his yellow jacket was dancing in shallows, swaying in the undulating waves. "Mommy's going to kill me!"

Piccolo walked over to it, picking it up and wringing some of the water out.

_/While this dries I'll give you something else to wear. I don't do yellow though./_

"Really? You can do that?" Gohan stood up slowly, still slightly dizzy from his tumble and lack of oxygen. He started to brush the sand from his soggy trousers. "Um, do you think you can give me new pants too?"

Piccolo shrugged, pointing at him. The same light as before engulfed the boy's body. It tingled. When it disappeared, he was cloaked in soft purple cloth. The pants and shirt were loose, and, much to Gohan's delight, they were similar to what Piccolo had been wearing. "Why didn't you just make yourself new clothes before?" he asked, "instead of keeping the ripped and burned stuff?"

Twitching his ears, Piccolo promptly made himself new dry clothes.

_/There. Happy?/_

Gohan beamed, and held out his arms to be picked up. Rolling his eyes, the Namekian settled the child against his chest and took off.

The two purple surfboards washed up on shore, forgotten.


	4. Maybe

**Chapter Four is here! And Chapter five is in progress.**

**And if anyone wants to look at an illustration from chapter 3, copy and past the link to get to my dA account:  
?order=5&q=he+mele+no+lilo#/d56kk14  
**

**:)**

**Recap on chapter names:**  
**Chap1 - Airplanes - B.O.B w/ Haley Williams**  
**Chap2 - Dance With the Devil - Breaking Benjamin**  
**Chap3 - Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Kamehameha Children's Choir**  
**Chap4 - Maybe - Sick Puppies  
Sometimes the song coordinates to the content, (usually in an obscure way) but more often than not, I'm just throwing a song that is a part of the "soundtrack" in, in case anyone wanted to find out some music, or was curious. :)**

**Thanks to:**  
**LycosTamer, FirstFemaleNamek, Adamantia9031, Kira Sema and dragon96 for your loveyl reviews 3**  
**They mean so much to me!  
**

**Anyway, on to chapter 4!**

**Enjoy 3**

Piccolo watched Gohan creep into the modest little cottage. Hidden behind a tree, he was able to observe everything that occurred without a risk of being seen. The oncoming night helped as well. Gohan had already stashed the new clothes somewhere out of sight of the window, and was now in a room with a table and chairs. Wondering why the boy was all alone, Piccolo took a single step out of hiding, only to slip back into shadow at the sound of a door slamming shut.

This new human looked similar to Gohan, only taller and thinner. He eyed it curiously. _It must be Gohan's mother, _he mused,_ she, I should say._ Namekians didn't have females; this was the first one he'd ever seen. _There's something…wrong. Something's…missing._ Piccolo watched the woman intently, examining her and comparing her to Gohan. It clicked. _She doesn't have a tail_. He wondered if only males had tails. _That must be it,_ he decided, sinking farther back into the foliage.

"Gohan, honey, I'm home." She called, pushing the door open with her hip and returning the key to its hiding place. "I brought dinner home."

_She sounds ill. Like something is clogging her throat. _

**_Why do you even care?_** That nagging little voice whispered in its usual evil hiss.

He promptly told it to shut up, and began setting up barriers around that portion of his mind. He did not like that side of him. Not at all.

"Mommy!" He watched the Kid leap into his mother's arms the moment she placed her bags on the counter. She grunted slightly, catching him and placing him on the counter before beginning to unload her groceries.

"How was your day, Baby?"

"Good. Mister Krillin let me help him grade the quizzes today. I got a hundred."

"You received a one hundred, sweetie." The woman corrected, beginning to put away a seemingly obnoxious amount of food. "Did you make any friends?"

Gohan shook his head slowly.

"N-no, Mamma."

For some reason, Piccolo frowned. _Friends… _What an odd word. Another concept that he had no understanding of. It was like "innocent."

"Did you…did you try?" She asked, hesitantly, "You know, Miss Baba is coming back tomorrow…" A long silence followed that sentence. Finally, Gohan mumbled something that Piccolo was sure he would have missed if he did not possess impeccable hearing.

"I…I know… I just…" His voice grew thick, and Piccolo's ears twitched as he narrowed his eyes. _Why is the Kid upset? Who or what is a "Baba?"And why is he agitated by it? _He suddenly decided that he disliked the woman. And he also didn't like whatever a "Baba" was either. They were upsetting the Kid. His attention snapped back to the scene in the kitchen as the boy hugged his mother tightly. "I d-don't like th-the other k-k-ki-kids at school."

She wrapped her arms around him and picked him up off of the counter top, holding him comfortingly. Her hands smoothed his hair and rubbed his back between the shoulders. Although he couldn't make out all of the words, her tone was soothing.

_Maybe she isn't too terrible…_

It occurred to him just how dark it had become; the lights from inside the little cottage shone like beacons in the pressing blackness. He cringed, not sure what to do. It would be easy enough to travel back to the cave where all of the light glowed. He could fly there, and hide in the lovely bluish glow from the organisms, but the black night pressed down on him from all sides. It was oppressive. Shaking his head to rid himself of the growing fear, Piccolo crept closer to the window, concealing himself in the lush garden, just below the sill. Namek did not have a night. His first experience with a so-called "night" had been on one of the occasions that the Dragon, Porunga, had been summoned. He didn't know what the wishes had been, nor did he particularly care. Piccolo only remembered the heavy black sky and the Dragon's deep roar. He shuddered, pulling his white cape close around his shoulders. Above him, he could hear the Kid slowly master his sobs, and his mother's voice continued to murmur lovingly.

Jealousy hit him like the whiplash from the crash. Why did the kid have all of this? This perfect life? Gohan wasn't hunted, nor was he hated. He had a bed to sleep in, a family who loved him, somewhere to get away from the dark and – his ears pricked suddenly as the boy whispered "I miss Daddy." It was impossible to miss the genuine sorrow in his voice. Instantly, the anger and jealousy dissipated. Pushing away the fear of the dark, he rolled onto his knees, cocking his head to side in order to better hear the conversation while remaining concealed.

"I know, Baby," the woman choked, "I miss him too, I miss him too."

* * *

Gohan snuggled into his blankets, hugging his pillow tightly. Chichi kissed his forehead lightly, whispering good night, before turning out the lights. He was tired. Almost drowning and learning to levitate took a lot out of a five year old. Yawning, the boy was just about to say goodnight to the photograph of his father when a quiet tap came at his window. Furrowing his brow, Gohan slowly slipped out of bed. His footed pajamas muffled his steps as he crept to the window. Cautiously, Gohan reached out a tentative hand, gripping the blinds before pulling them open.

_/Hey Kid./_ Piccolo said sheepishly, leaning on the sill.

"You're still here?" Gohan whispered, surprised. "I thought you were going to go back to your cave?"

A definite blush flushed across Piccolo's face, but he held his eyes on Gohan's.

_/I waited until your mother came home,/_ he explained gruffly_, /and... I did not feel up to flying back to the cave./_

Gohan heard the forced off-handedness in Piccolo's voice, and smiled innocently;

"You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

Piccolo gave him a short glare, _/like you can talk./_ He reached a hand through the now open window and pointed to Gohan's dragon-shaped nightlight.

"You can come in if you want. I have a lot of extra blankets under the bed and I never use all of these pillows." He opened the window wider, shuffling away from the window, grabbing extra cushions before beginning to make up a bed on the floor. "If you curl up on your side, you'll fit right here, and Mommy won't see you when she comes to check on me."

Piccolo raised a skeptical eyebrow before shedding his new cape and turban and squeezing all seven feet of himself through the window. _At least, _he thought to himself,_ I haven't filled out yet, or this would be nigh on impossible_.

Gohan smiled tiredly at him, "you'll be right next to the night light now, Piccolo." He handed the Namekian an extra pillow before crawling sleepily into his own bed.

Piccolo lowered himself silently to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest and covering himself with a bright orange blanket. He hated orange, but wasn't going to say anything based upon the fact that it was a cold night. He heard Gohan roll over above him, and heard the boy's little voice quietly ask "Why weren't you ever scared in the cave, Piccolo? Or were you, but you didn't want to say anything?"

_/In the cave, there were creatures that glowed with a blue-white light. It was not dark./_

"Really? Bioluminescent organisms? That's so neat!"

"Gohan?" a soft voice came from the other side of the door, Piccolo froze. "Gohan honey, are you talking to someone?"

"Um," Gohan stuttered, "J-just saying goodnight to my stuffed animals, Mamma."

The door opened out of sight. He prayed the Kid was right and she wouldn't see him...

"Talk to them in the morning, Sweety. Miss Baba is coming tomorrow and we have to clean the house up."

"Okay," he whispered, "Love you Mamma!"

"I love you too, Gohan. Now go to sleep, Baby." The door closed with a click, and Piccolo exhaled the breath that had frozen in his chest.

_/Goodnight, Piccolo./_

_/...Night, Kid./_

Piccolo slept lightly, aware of every whistle of the wind and creak of the cottage. He was aware of every sleepy thought that Gohan dreamt up, and watched the boy's dreams and nightmares. Gohan wasn't capable of controlling his mind while he slept. Even Piccolo had difficulty keeping his thoughts to himself during slumber, causing him to meditate and clear his mind for hours before allowing his body to enter a true sleep.

Annoyed at first by the boy's lack of control, Piccolo attempted to block out his dreams, but it grew tiring after several minutes, and he gave in.

Almost instantly, his mind was consumed by Gohan's, and he watched the boy's dream play out in front of him.

**_The world seemed very big through the little boy's eyes, he realized, drifting along, without control. It must have been a memory, because the boy was even smaller than he was now, and toddled unsteadily on too short of legs clothed in too long pants. "Da-aaa-dy! Daddy? Where are you?" Piccolo felt the awkward stumbling gait of the child as if it were his own, feeling his mouth move and voice work with the child's. "Da-aa-dy!" Trees grew up out of the ground around them, exploding from the black earth with a flurry of dirt, pebbles, and leaves. The twisting trunks towered over them, blotting out the sun and blue sky, leaving them shrouded in suffocating blackness. "DADDY?" The pitch of Gohan's voice became frantic, and Piccolo felt their heart thumping painfully as they broke into a panicked run. _**

**_"Daddy where are you? Daddy! Mommy!" Gohan fell, sprawling in the dirt after being knocked sideways by a sprouting tree. They couldn't stand up, their ankle was twisted painfully. Gohan's tears burned like liquid fire in their eyes, their breath coming in too short of gasps. _**

**_Suddenly, strong arms lifted them from the ground, turning them to face their rescuer. _**

**_"Hey there, little guy," the man's cheery voice rang in discord to Gohan's misery, which was quickly dissipating at the sight of the man. Warmth and safety filled the small child's heart, and, because of the dream-state, Piccolo's as well. _**

**_"Daddy!" The little boy breathed, reaching out his arms and wrapping them around the man's neck. "I hurt my ankle!" He babbled, the tears rolling down his face. "I couldn't find you and I was so scared and the trees and the lions and dark and I fell and –"_**

**_"It's okay, Son. Let's get you home."_**

**_Gohan buried their face in the man's chest, breathing in the scent of safety._**

**_"I've missed you, Daddy…"_**

**_Then the dream changed. The peace was shattered with fire and violet blood. The screams of the dying attacked their ears with the intensity of fire-heated knives, and the smells of destruction filled their nostrils. Piccolo panicked; in his relaxed state from the ending of Gohan's dream, his block had slipped, and something in his mind had made a connection at the idea of "father." _**

**_A wrinkled, angry face glared back at them, clutching a dismembered Namekian child in his arms. Tears caught and pooled in the wisdom-lines, and spittle bombarded them as he shouted at them hatefully;_**

**_"Demon! Foul beast! Monster!"_**

**_They laughed. It was a cruel, harsh sound, similar to untrimmed nails dragging across a chalk board. _**

**_"Demon?" They cackled, "Beast? Monster? I am the King." With a roar, they dove upon the hapless elder, tossing the dead child aside as they tore into the old man's flesh. The leathery flesh yielded to their fury; blood splattered across their vision, and bones crunched beneath their hands and – _**

Piccolo sat bolt upright, cracking his head against Gohan's bed-frame. The small boy was sitting up, back straight as a board, black eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears.

"Why?" He whispered, "Who was that?" His voice shook, and he clutched his blanket to his chin. Tears started to drip over his face, quickly becoming a cascade. "That wasn't you? Was it? It wasn't your voice but –?" Gohan kicked free of his blankets, "Piccolo, that was your father?"

_He heard me._

Piccolo fled.

* * *

_Inhale, exhale. In, out. Everything is going to be okay Chichi,_ she told herself, watching Gohan putting away his toys. He seemed tired, and had admitted to having had a nightmare last night. She seemed to remember a crack in the wee hours of the morning, but Gohan had insisted that he was fine, _"no, Mamma I didn't fall out of bed or anything. I just had a bad dream, that's all." But he's lying. Something's got him upset – _She shook her head. Of course he was upset. That dammed Baba woman was coming back today. She gritted her teeth, continuing with her task.

Chichi dried the dishes with feverish dedication, scrubbing at the wet droplets furiously.

_Everything is going to be okay. _

_Gohan is not going anywhere. _

_I will not allow them to take my baby._

She remembered the conversation she'd had with Baba on the phone.

_"It wouldn't be permanent. Only until things turned around for the two of you. The community is only trying to look out for your welfares. Do what's best for Gohan, and for you."_

Her grip on the plate tightened, her knuckles turning white. A sudden crack brought her back into focus, and she stared at the shattered plate in the sink. Only a small piece remained in her hand. Chichi closed her eyes, looking heavenward. _Goku…Send me the strength to get through this…Please…_ She sucked in a deep, cleansing breath_, Please, Goku…_ and released it.

A knock came at the door. Chichi took a moment to straighten up; smoothing her dress and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

_Put your game face on, Girl. For Gohan._

"Good Morning, Ms. Baba."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed :) How do you guys feel about the chapter lengths? Okay, long? (If you think they're too short you can wait and read 2 chapters at once lol, I'm not making them longer than 5/6 Microsoft Word pages). **

**I don't know if anyone's looked at my profile, but Chichi is one of my favorite characters, so she'll be getting some more attention soon enough. Also Popo, Nail, and Kami are back next chapter. The plot will really pick up very soon :)**

**I'm off to watch _Lilo and Stitch._ I feel like I need to refresh my memory again :)  
See you all soon and thanks again (and technically in advance) for all your lovely reviews and continued support!**

**~Wulfeh**


	5. Enjoy the Silence

**Sorry for the wait guys! My dog got bloat, which is a very dangerous condition, similar to colic in horses. It's the 2nd leading cause of death in dogs. Thanks to wonderful vets and an emergency surgery to fix his twisted stomach, he's okay, but obviously my mind was not on writing for a couple of days. Please google this and know the signs so you can recognize them in your own dog! Timing is key, so make sure you know where the nearest Emergency Animal Clinic is too! **

**Okay so this is a little shorter than the previous chapter but not by too much. Please Enjoy 3**

**Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode**

* * *

Chichi allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief; this was going much better than last time. Gohan seemed to have snapped out of whatever funk he had been in that morning. _He's still not quite right,_ she mused, eyeing her son discreetly. He kept glancing out of the window, peering into the trees every time that Baba paused to scribble something down, or to ask Chichi a question._ I can't worry about that now, _she chastised herself, turning her attention back to Baba. Gohan nodded shyly, "Yes, I liked being home-schooled better." He said, fiddling with his tail. "Sometimes I get bored in class because..." he blinked, "I already learned it. So I do extra stuff at home with Mamma."

"Hmm," Baba nodded, "is that all of the time you spend together?"

Gohan cocked his head to the side, "what do you mean?"

"I mean, dear, do you do anything else with your mother besides study?"

It took all of her will power to not interject. Of course they didn't _just _study!

"Oh," Gohan nodded, "we read and cook together. Right now we're reading _Brave Story_, and Mamma's really good at doing the voices. Sometimes I feel like I'm listening to a lot of people read, not just one. It's really cool!" he babbled, smiling all of the way to his eyes, "it's the best."

"Wonderful, dear," Baba dotted something down.

Gohan shifted uncomfortably, looking between the social worker and his mother. _I don't like it either, Sweetheart,_ she thought, hoping that he would somehow sense her musings. To her surprise, the boy turned to look at her, and smiled reassuringly.

_I know,_ he seemed to say, scooting closer to her.

Baba opened her mouth as if to ask another question, but she was interrupted by a crash outside.

Gohan leapt to his feet, "Excuse me!" he gasped, making a dash for the door. Chichi was behind him in a heartbeat.

"Gohan!"

"Uh, ah, th-the fawn followed me home?" he gasped, grappling with the front door. "Just give me a minute!"

The door popped open and Gohan bolted outside, Chichi hot on his heels, with Baba bobbing along behind her.

"What on earth is going on?" the old woman wheezed, pausing to shut the door into the house.

"I would like to know that myself," Chichi muttered, making a snatch at Gohan and missing.

"Piccolo?" Gohan called in a stage whisper, stumbling into the garden, where one of the many potted tomato plants had been knocked over. The boy looked around frantically, but there was no sign of the alien.

Chichi rounded the corner of the small cottage, grabbing Gohan's arm as she stopped herself from smashing into him.

"Mamma, let go!" He pushed at her hand, "I'll be right –" but Chichi scooped him up, face flushing with embarrassment as she turned around to see the diminutive social worker looking coolly at them.

"Gohan, honey, you can play with the animals later," she hissed, adjusting her grip on her son. More loudly she said, "Sweetheart, that was a little rude, don't you think?" Chichi cast a glance around the garden; she didn't see anything, besides the spilled tomato plant and pieces of the terracotta pot. She paused, staring at a print in the dirt_, that's not a deer-track… Could Gohan have…?_ The hair on the back of her neck prickled, and she pulled Gohan closer to her. He pushed against her, making small noises of distress in his throat. "Gohan," she growled, struggling to hold onto the squirming kindergartner, "cut that out, young man!"

"Piccolo!"

_That's a silly name for a deer. You'd think he'd call it "Bambi" or "Rannoch"_ or – Her thought process was cut off as a movement on the roof caught her attention_. What on earth was that? It wasn't a bird, a cat maybe?_ If it had been a cat, it was a large one for sure. She had the distinct impression that something – or someone – was watching them. Chichi shuddered, and hurriedly gestured for Baba to follow her back to the front door. With Gohan tucked securely against her, Chichi marched right up to door, grasping the handle and twisting.

The door had locked behind them.

* * *

Gohan sat shame-faced under his window sill. He was grounded._ I can't be too mad..._he thought, rubbing the back of his head absently. _That must've been pretty embarrassing_. Chichi had been forced to go through one of the windows on the second floor. He could not suppress the small smile as he remembered his mother - in her typical violet dress, none the less - clambering up the side of the house, using the car first, then hooking her arms through Gohan's open window.

She had not been pleased.

"_The next time an adult tells you to do something, you do it! Got that young man?" _

She had tears in her eyes when she had said it. Gohan sighed, plopping his chin in his hands. He hadn't meant to cause trouble… Brow furrowing, Gohan peeked out over the windowsill, peering down into the garden. Chichi had long since cleaned up the broken tomato plant, sweeping the dirt off of the patio, but he couldn't stop himself for searching for some sign of Piccolo.

_I wonder why he ran off like that…I guess that dream was pretty scary._ Propping his elbows on the windowsill, Gohan allowed a small sigh escape his lips. _I hope he's okay. He knows where all of the water is, and he doesn't eat much, and he can take care of himself… Can't he?_ There was no sign of the alien.

He swooped low, catching sight of something purple swirling in the waves. Another strip of purple danced on the shore, tumbling across the beach. Nail snatched at the purple cloth, landing in a flurry of golden sand. The wind tore at the violet fabric, attempting to rip it from his claws. With a low growl, Nail gripped it more tightly, holding it up to his nose. He recognized that scent; a mix of Namek blood, antiseptic, and sulfur. The growl deepened, becoming throatier, before erupting into a snarl that curdled his companion's blood.

"Ma Junior…"

Popo had never seen Nail like this. At the demon's capture: pride; at his escape: fury, loss; and now…

"Oh Kami..." he murmured, "How did it ever come to this?" The genie descended to the beach slowly, folding his carpet as he touched down. "What in the world?" Popo reached down, grasping one of the purple boards in his hands. He weighed it, testing the balance, "what a simple design… I wonder what its purpose is?" Popo lifted it above his head, examining it. "There's a larger one as well…"

"This is only a day old, Popo." Nail brandished the torn remnants of a shirt in Popo's face. "He's been here."

"And he wasn't alone." Popo held up the smaller board. Nail's scowl deepened. "I don't understand what is going on. It seems impossible that he would have found an ally here, and so soon!"

"Whoever it is won't live long," Nail commented dryly, stuffing the remnants of Ma Junior's shirt into a pocket, "once they outlive their usefulness to him, he'll kill them."

Popo pondered that statement, setting the board back on the beach. What usefulness could the strange, simple device be to Ma Junior? Surely it wasn't a weapon of some-sort… he shook his head slowly, flicking his flying carpet open and hopping lightly on to it. Nail took off, heading inland, over the mountains they had just crossed. Popo followed.

* * *

Floating cross-legged in the air, Piccolo fought to clear his head. Usually, meditation came easily to him; not today. Every time he closed his eyes, the images from his father's memory came crashing back into the forefront of his mind. Especially the limbless child. The back of his throat felt hot, and the sensation quickly began to spread to other parts of his body. His breath hitched. _This isn't working._

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Piccolo closed his eyes, diving down into his consciousness at a painful rate. It was better to take it slow – he'd have a headache later – but he needed to bypass the nightmarish images. Finally, he reached the quiet little corner of himself that he used as an escape from the outside world. He sighed contentedly, surrounded by sweet nothingness. It was difficult to describe the place the Namekian had created for himself, for it was not white, nor black, nor any color that he could discern. There was no light, yet there wasn't any dark either. No scenery, no sound, no smells. There was nothing. And he reveled in its glory. Piccolo melted into his world, keeping only a sliver of his consciousness attuned to the outside world.

He may have sat there for one hour, or for three. Finally, a sense of calm filtered through his being._ About damn time._ The Namekian allowed himself to drift out of the meditative state, coming into full consciousness.

Instantaneously, Piccolo clapped a hand to his forehead, stifling a groan. It was his own damn fault for forcing past the troubling layers. His meditation was supposed to help him work past all of his troubles, to clear his thoughts. Today, he'd only pushed the problem down, burying it deep in a corner of his mind. Rubbing his temples helped a little, but cold water and a nap should kick it. Slowly and methodically, Piccolo unfolded himself, standing in the air for a moment before gently touching down on the earth. It only took him a moment to walk to the base of the mountain where his cave was hidden. Just before he took off, warning signals blared across his senses, making his antennae prickle uncomfortably beneath his turban. He growled deep in his chest, whipping his head around and scanning the skies. Blood pounded through his skull, roaring loudly in his ears. This was not helping his headache. _Where are they? I know they're near._ Piccolo stared heavenward for several more minutes before the feeling passed. _Must've been...On the other side of the mountain._

Slowly, he levitated off of the ground, moving straight up to the wall of ivy concealing his cave's entrance.

"Mamma Please?" Gohan begged, tears brimming in his voice and eyes, "I need to make sure my f-fr – fawn is okay! Please!"

"No," Chichi kept her voice even, and did not remove her gaze from the recipe, "You're grounded until Friday."

"B-but I didn't mean for the door to lock!" He cried, the tears beginning to brim over, "it was Miss Baba who shut the door. It isn't fair, Mamma!"

Chichi stiffened, turning her head slowly and deliberately placing the dishes on the counter.

"Gohan, do you know why she's coming?" she snapped, slamming the cook book closed, "Do you?"

Gohan shook his head, lower lip quivering, "N-no..."

Chichi inhaled loudly; _Calm down,_ "Gohan..."

The phone rang. "Dam-darn it," she hissed. "Go on up to your room and start on that new book."

The boy's face scrunched in confusion, but he didn't argue anymore. He was just too tired. Choking back tears, he ran upstairs to his room, slamming his door. Gohan threw himself onto his bed and cried until he fell asleep. Four more days of confinement. Four more days of no Piccolo.

He was not overly concerned when the boy failed to visit him the first day; there had been several occasions where Gohan had been unable to convince his mother to allow him out. Piccolo sat quietly by the mountain stream just outside of the cave, meditating peacefully_. The Kid will be here tomorrow_, he assured himself, pushing away a nagging fear in his stomach._ His mother was probably upset about the plant… _Piccolo repeated that over and over again, _the Kid will be here tomorrow._ It became a mantra for his meditation.

_**He knows what you are. **_

The second day passed much the same as the first, except Piccolo wandered farther from the cave's entrance, following the stream across the mountain to the point where it joined a large river. He sat by it for hours, enjoying the sound of crashing water. Piccolo only returned to his cave forty-five minutes before Gohan usually showed up. There was no sign of the boy.

By the third day since the horrific nightmare, Piccolo had almost given up hope of the boy returning. _Maybe he is ill? That would explain it..._ At the time of Gohan's usual arrival, Piccolo glided slowly over the mountain, staying low and scanning the trail for the Kid. _Nothing_. His heart continued to sink the closer he came to Gohan's house. He landed below the boy's window, keeping a wary eye out for his pursuers or the boy's mother. Cautiously, Piccolo approached the window to the boy's room; without making a sound he peered through the glass.

Gohan sat at his desk, scribbling intently on a piece of paper. The Namek's mouth opened, just enough to let the tips of his fangs show, and his brows furrowed.

_**He found out what you were, and he wants nothing to do with you.**_

He drew away slowly, turning his back on the window.

_Bye Kid._ His throat felt thick, his chest hurt.

* * *

Unaware of the visitor at the window, Gohan finished his drawing, placing the green crayon back on his desk. The boy sighed longingly, staring at the drawing. The slightly rumpled piece of paper featured a childish representation of himself and Piccolo sitting on the beach.

* * *

**Okay hope you enjoyed this! Chapter Six coming soon. I'll be back on track this week :) **  
**I was planning on having more action in this chapter. And by more, I meant...some... That'll be next chapter. This one *is* very important though!**  
**And I actually got it out earlier than I thought I would too...**  
**Thanks for reading - see you next chapter!**


	6. The Poison

**Okkkkayyy here it is! And it's extra long. XD**

**chapter title pending... I'll get back to you all on that XD**

CHAPTER SIX

Gohan awoke Friday morning, feeling lighter than he had in days. _I hope he's okay! _He thought, kicking his pajama pants off and yanking his clothes on furiously. "As soon as school's over, Piccolo! I promise!" Gohan whispered, thundering downstairs. Gohan shoveled food into his mouth as quickly as he could without getting yelled at by his mother. "Mmphf! Dis ish so guhd!" He said around the stack of bacon and eggs.

"Chew and swallow before you talk, Baby," Chichi said softly, a small smile on her face. Gohan didn't know that she'd forgiven him days ago, so he did as she said, gulping it all down and grinning.

"Gotta go to school! Bye!" Snatching up his book bag, the little boy dashed out of the house, barely pausing to kiss his mother on the cheek.

"What am I going to do with that boy?" Chichi murmured, watching her son raise a cloud of dust with nothing but affection in her gaze.

_Pi-Pi-Pi!_ With a grunt of annoyance, the man reached up, pressing the button on the side of the machine to answer, "What is it?"He growled.

"_Have you located the planet where Kakarot is?"_ A harsh voice grated through the machine.

"I'll be arriving within the hour," he replied, "Then it will be quick and easy to locate him, my computer states that the residents of the planet are weak."

"_Good, check in once you have him, and are out of the atmosphere, Raditz."_

"Of course, Your Highness."

Raditz heard the machine click as the call disconnected. A feral grin crossed his already wild features, giving him a barbaric look in the red light of his space pod.

"I'm coming, Little Brother. It's time to live up to your heritage."

School passed by at an agonizingly slow rate for the kindergartner. He fidgeted, tapped his fingers, sighed, and scuffed his toes on the floor all day long. Mister Krillin was teaching the class an introduction to astronomy. Gohan, of course, already had an extensive array of knowledge on the solar system, yet the kids in his class were _only_ learning the order of the planets!

"Mister Krillin?" he asked, "are we gonna talk about the idea that universe is expanding? Or the existence of Aliens?"

"Stupid! There's no such thing as aliens!" a girl jeered, sticking her tongue out at Gohan. "My mom says that aliens are just _stupid_ stories for _stupid_ people! And she knows _everything_! So there!"

_**"Gyoza!" **_Krillin wrapped his knuckles on the chalk board, silencing the laughs from the rest of the class, "What have I told you about the 'stupid' word?"

Gyoza pouted, "That it's not nice and we shouldn't say it," she regurgitated, as if repeating it verbatim from a text book.

"That's right," the bald teacher crossed his arms, furrowing his brows in a shockingly imposing manner, "now apologize to Gohan."

Gyoza crinkled her nose in distaste, but did as she was told. "Sorry."

"Forrrrr?" Krillin prompted, _there'll be no half-assed apologies in my class!_ he thought.

Gyoza rolled her eyes, giving Krillin a very dirty look, "I'm sorry I called you stupid for believing in aliens, even though they're fake."

"It's okay," Gohan mumbled, chewing on his tail. "But aliens are real," he whispered, so quietly he doubted Gyoza or anyone else would hear him. "My best friend is an alien."

"Gohan, did you say something, Kiddo?" Krillin asked, cupping his ear, "speak up, little dude."

Gohan shook his head, "N-no, Sir, I di-didn't say anything." He looked down at his desk, flushing.

"Hm," Krillin shrugged, turning back to the board, "to answer your questions Gohan, I wasn't going to, but aliens are kind of fun. I know!" Krillin grinned, kneeling to pull out paper from a drawer, "Why don't we all draw aliens for our craft today?! I can get the glitter and tin foil out."

Several children clapped their hands, and high pitched voices started exclaiming things like "Ooh! Imma make a pink alien!" "Mine's a be blue wi' five eyes an' ten'acles!" "Can it look like a kitty but have spikes?"

"Guys and gals! Hush, hush! None of us has actually seen an alien, so no one knows what they might look like." Krillin began to hand out paper, crayons and colored pencils to the children. "However you should think an alien should like, draw it!" Krillin paused at Gohan's desk, "Do you know what you're drawing, Kiddo?"

Gohan smiled shyly, nodding. "Uh huh." he took a box of colored pencils from Krillin, thanking the vertically challenged teacher.

He immediately pulled out the green and purple.

The boy worked diligently on his drawing, doing his best to make the drawing look as most like Piccolo as his five year old art skills allowed. The final outcome made him smile. It depicted Piccolo floating in the cave. He picked up light brown, pink, black and purple again. Beaming, the kindergartner added himself into the picture, floating next to Piccolo. Gohan stared at it for a minute, something was missing. He picked up the grey and blue, adding in more of the cave, and the bioluminescent organisms Piccolo was so fond of.

"There," he said, eyes shining. "All done."

Gohan reached under his desk for his backpack, pulling out a bright orange folder. He was bringing this to Piccolo.

"Alright everyone," Krillin called, ten minutes before lunch break. "Let's share our drawings, and explain why we drew our aliens with the characteristics that we did. What do they eat, how they communicate, and what type of planet do they come from? And, most importantly, are they friendly or," he grinned mischievously, "have they come to conquer the human race? Who wants to go first? Gohan, since you asked about aliens, how about you?

"Um, okay..." he blushed, hugging the drawing to his chest. Gohan walked timidly to the front of the classroom, pivoting on his heel to face the class. "This is my alien... And he's called a Namekian," he was very pink now, "Um, I don't know what planet Namek is like because I've never been there... Pic - um," Gohan choked, too late now. "Piccolo doesn't eat much, he mostly drinks water, and he only has four fingers... That's just how he is. And he has antennae and super good hearing, and fangs. Those don't make a lot of sense since he really doesn't eat much. I think he can perform photosynthesis or something. He's green...and he can talk but he uses telepathy right now because he hurt his throat." Gohan swallowed, "and I drew myself floating next to him. Cuz I want to learn how to do that." Gohan hugged the drawing again, scurrying back to his seat. "Oh and he's grumpy but doesn't really want to take over the world. He just wants to be left alone for the most part," the boy finished as he sat down, sliding the drawing into the orange folder.

"That," Krillin said after a moment, "was very detailed, and very creative. Good job Bud." The man smiled warmly at Gohan.

"Thanks."

Gyoza's hand shot up in the air, "me next!" She bounced up the front of the room. "I drew a Space Monkey." She held her drawing high in the air. Gohan felt a rock land in his stomach. Her drawing looked like him. "It has a tail to strangle its enemies with and to swing from trees. But it looks like a human otherwise, except when the moon's full, then it grows into a giant gorilla and destroys things. And it wants to control the world."

Gohan sank into his seat, biting back tears and feeling sick. He subconsciously curled his tail around a leg of the chair. There were a few quiet, nervous giggles, but most of the class stared wide eyed and incredulous at Gyoza's boldness.

"Gyoza," Krillin's voice was dangerous. "Give me the drawing. **Now**." Gyoza's face darkened, she knew she was in trouble. Slowly, she handed the rude caricature to her teacher. Krillin took it, looking at it briefly, before opening his top drawer and placing it inside. "That was not at all nice. I am very disappointed in you. You will be eating lunch with Principle Bulma, _and _I'm calling your mother."

"Why?!" Gyoza screamed, "cuz I drew the monkey kid? He's an _alien!_ Humans don't _have_ monkey tails!"

"That is _**enough!" **_Krillin slammed his fist into his desk. "Gohan is _not_ an alien. He is a kid just like you. It is not fair you all to treat him like you do. I'm bald and half the size of most men my age, do people treat me differently? No. Principle Bulma has blue hair, and no one makes fun of that! You, Gyoza, have two different colored eyes, but do the other kids pick on you?" She shook her head, face scarlet. "Exactly!" Krillin pointed to the corner. "Go stand there until a security guard comes to escort you to the principle."

Gohan hugged his tail, fighting tears. Mister Krillin looked directly at him, face softening. "Now, does anyone have something nice to share?"

-**Entering atmosphere. Computers checking air composition and density. **_**Pi-pi-pi!**_** Safe to breathe without mask. Prepare for landing.-**

"About damn time!" The alien snarled, strapping his seat belt. "I'd better find Kakarot quickly so I can leave this miserable quadrant."

The spherical pod flattened a small farm house, smashing through the barn before coming to a halt in a stack of round bales. Chickens squawked in panic, clucking and flapping about the ruined barn before escaping around the pod. The livestock in the fields surrounding the barn and farm house spooked; horses bolted, bucking and squealing, cows bellowed in fear and sheep scattered. The shepherding dogs barked frantically, some attempting to round up their herds, others snarling at the invading object.

A fat little farmer waddled over to his destroyed property, holding a gun shakily in his fingers. Whistling for the dogs to back off, he aimed the gun at the figure appearing out of the smoke and dust.

A man - a massive man - stepped into view. Muscles bulged on his arms and legs, his hair spiked and tumbled almost down to his ankles, and he wore a nasty smirk upon his cruel face. Suddenly, a long, simian tail unfurled from around his waist.

The famer screamed, firing his gun at the invader.

The alien sneered, whipping his hand up in front of his face and catching the bullet in his hand. Slowly, he uncurled his fingers, examining the bullet for a moment before flicking it casually back at the unfortunate farmer. It slammed in between the man's eyes, killing him instantly. The famer keeled over backwards, sending his dogs scurrying for escape. He threw back his head in a horrid laugh before raising himself off of the ground, reaching for the strange device covering one eye.

"Now, I just need to seek out the highest power level on this miserable rock. That'll be Kakarot." The device beeped slowly for a moment, before picking up speed with an indication to the north. "Hmm, that's smaller than I would have hoped, but seeing as there is so much life on this planet, I shouldn't be surprised." Raditz lifted off of the ground, turning towards the indicated power level. "You have some explaining to do, little brother."

Piccolo kicked a rock sending the unlucky stone sailing through the air and through a tree trunk. Not satisfied, he lifted a small boulder, hurling it as far as he possibly could from the cliff where he stood. It crushed and splintered several trees, leaving forest animals screeching and dashing about as they fled their ruined homes.

This pain in his chest was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He was too tired to be angry, but too restless to fall asleep. He wanted to blow things up, but couldn't muster the ki for even a small blast.

The Kid didn't want him.

Piccolo had become attached to the child, even though the boy had insisted upon taking care of him as if he were a pet. He had begun to think of the Kid as his. His Kid.

Seeing the boy sitting at his desk as if he had never met Piccolo had hurt more than any wound he had ever been dealt. He had just been sitting there. He wasn't sick, he wasn't trapped; he was just…there.

The Namekian sat down unceremoniously, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. He was not entirely sure how long he sat there, gazing out over the trees, his thoughts were a churning mess of emotions, all of the surrounding Gohan. Piccolo could hear the stream gurgling happily to his left, but off in the distance, he could hear a dull roaring noise. Piccolo shook his head to clear it of all thoughts pertaining to the Kid, deciding to explore the mountain further. Remaining on foot, Piccolo followed the stream as it curved around the mountain, gaining in thickness and speed as more tiny tributaries fed into it. He knew he was heading to where the stream emptied into the river; it had become a favorite spot of his. Today when he met the river, he turned, following it as it carved through the stone.

The roaring grew louder, more thunderous in his ears.

Suddenly the river dropped off the face of the earth, sending tons of water cascading down over a cliff. White mist rose from the pool below the water fall, creating cooling updrafts that soaked his skin and clothes. Piccolo dropped over the edge, catching himself with ki and floating halfway up the water fall.

Perhaps he could find peace here.

Gohan clambered up the mountain trail, tripping over several ruts and stones as he rushed to the hidden cave. "I'm coming Piccolo!" he called, pushing himself up and dashing to the cave's hidden entrance. "I'm so sorry I haven't been here! I've been grounded but I wanted to-" He burst through the curtain of ivy, looking wildly around the cave.

It was empty.

"To...see...you..." Gohan stared hopelessly around the cave, searching for signs of Piccolo. A water bottle lay empty on its side, dry as a desert rock. "P-Piccolo?" Gohan whispered, hearing his voice reverberate off of the walls. "Wh-where are you? Are you hiding? Piccolo?!" His breath hitched,_ he thinks I abandoned him_. The orange folder dropped from his shaking fingers. Slowly, Gohan stumbled out of the cave, looking around outside for signs of his...his... For signs of Piccolo. "Piccolo?!" he yelled, **"PICCOLO?!"** he waited, hoping, praying that the Namekian would come around a corner, and reprimand him for not coming sooner, before picking him up and setting him on his shoulder.

Tears pricked in his burning eyes, which felt like pokers fresh out of a fire were digging into his irises. "Pi-Pi-P-" Gohan sat down and cried, hugging his knees. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to come, honest! I was grounded, and now you hate me! Oh Piccolo why did you run away that night?" the boy sobbed heartbrokenly into his knees, "Please come back!"

Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was probably ten minutes, he stood up, heading for home. Tears still streamed down his face.

The orange folder was forgotten.

Kami paced back and forth across his ship, avoiding several Namekians bustling around the cabin. "It's been too long... Far, _far_ too long!" Ten steps, spin. "Nail and Popo shall be doomed if they fight him now." He cursed quietly in Namekian, "I have only myself to blame for this debacle." Ten steps, spin. "We must land the ship. I must go after him myself." Ten steps, spin. "Yes, yes that is the only way. Moori!"

The portly Namekian jumped, standing to attention. "How may I help you, Kami?"

"Prepare the ship for descent. We _must_ land on Earth and back up Nail and Mister Popo. If it is not already too late..."

"Yes Sir!" Moori bowed, returning to his screen, **"Prepare for landing. We begin our descent to planet Earth in 30 minutes." **

"He's close!" Nail snarled, "I can feel it!" He dove lower, skimming over the tops of the trees. "I will find you, demon!"

Piccolo flew back to his cave, feeling not-quite content, but closer to it than he had in days. Upon reaching the entrance, he noticed that there were tiny footprints in the dust, and the ivy was slightly askew. His heart leapt into his throat. Piccolo parted the ivy, stepping into the cave, more than half expecting Gohan to leap into his arms and babble incessantly about nothing.

The cave was just how he'd left it this morning. Except for the bright orange folder that lay by his left foot. Piccolo knelt down, picking up the obnoxiously colored folder. As he did, it opened, sending its contents fluttering to the floor. He caught the escaping paper, turning it over slowly to see what was on it.

Gohan and Piccolo, floating together in the cave.

_Kid..._

He folded the drawing quickly, stuffing it into the thick blue belt around his waist. The Namekian whipped around, exiting the cave and leaping off of the path into the air. He rocketed in the direction of Gohan's house, paying no attention to his surroundings. The Kid hadn't abandoned him. The Kid wasn't afraid of him, of his past! _Almost there..._

**WHAM!**

Piccolo dropped like a stone as a heavy mass collided into his back from above.

"Gotcha, Ma Junior!" Nail's gruff voice snarled in his ear as the older warrior slammed him into the ground.

Piccolo snarled, throwing Nail from his shoulders and sending a fist crushing into his mouth. He slipped into an offensive stance, baring his fangs and growling deep in his chest. Not now! He was so _close!_

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Nail baited, wiping indigo blood from his lips and casting his sleeveless coat from his toned body. He was almost a head taller than Piccolo, and quite a bit thicker. He was, after all, many years older than the demon.

Narrowing his dark vermillion eyes, Piccolo discarded his cape and turban. If there was going to be a fight, he would be going all out.

Dust swirled around the two from an ominous breeze, tugging at the loose fabric of their Gi.

Nail moved first.

Piccolo sprang straight up in the air to avoid the larger Namek's flying roundhouse, coming down on Nail with a double fisted driving punch. Nail ducked his head, causing the blow to catch him in the shoulder rather than the skull. A quick spin and a snatch allowed him to catch Piccolo's wrist, flipping him over his shoulder. Piccolo would have landed on his back with spine-snapping force, but the clever fighter twisted himself, landing on his feet. He smirked maliciously at Nail, using his hyper-extended arms to send the larger Namek into the dirt. Faster than the eye can follow, Nail's foot snaked out. Piccolo tripped, but turned the momentum into a kick to Nail's head, only to have it blocked by a raised arm. Both warriors sprang apart, falling back into ready-stances.

"You're just as quick of mind and body as I remember you," Nail rumbled, "but, something's changed..." his black eyes narrowed under drawn brow-ridges."You lack the wild ferocity you once possessed."

Piccolo growled, shifting on the balls of his feet. He watched Nail's eyes, the only portion of his body that couldn't lie. He waited, poised to spring, for any minuscule indication of the man's next move. "I suppose it changes nothing," Nail continued, "My mission to capture you and return you to Kami stands." He took a step forward, but Piccolo remained immobile.

"Gohan, honey!" Chichi called up the stairs, "Gohan, come down here please."

She watched her son as he sulked down the stairs, and worry filled her. Maybe she should have turned down the extra hours at work...she could still call and reschedule...

"Yes, Mamma?" His face was puffy and pink, and his eyes looked glassy. She knelt to his level, wrapping her arms around him and pulling the five year old close to her chest. "Did Mister Krillin call?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she answered, smoothing his hair. "He was worried about you."

"I'm okay." _You little liar,_ she thought, pulling back to look at the boy's face. "Gyoza apologized, so it's okay."

Chichi sighed, gently stroking the puffy skin below his eyes. The salt had dried there, leaving crystal trails on his cheeks. "Just because she said she was sorry doesn't mean that it's okay, Gohan." Krillin had also told her that, by law, he and Bulma had to inform Baba of any incident involving a child being monitored.

"Do you want to come with me to work?" she asked, "instead of staying here?"

Gohan shook his head. "No," he sat back down on the stairs. "I'll stay here, and I'll stay quiet and keep the doors and windows shut and locked. And I won't answer the door, and I'll only answer the phone if it's grandpa. And if something happens I'll call you at work."

Chichi kissed his forehead, "That's my boy," she murmured. She wished that she could have afforded a babysitter, or that her father lived closer. Krillin would watch Gohan if she had asked, but the short teacher had a date tonight. The first one in years. It was just bad timing. Gohan had been left alone before, and he knew what to do.

"You can watch TV, but don't stay up too late, okay? And _no_ scary movies. Your homework can wait until tomorrow.

"Yes, Mamma." he kissed her on the cheek, and gave her one more hug.

The two Namekians clashed once again; Nail backed Piccolo through the woods, forcing the smaller man to divide his attention between his adversary and what was behind him. Piccolo nearly stumbled over a large, exposed root, but used it as a spring board to launch himself over Nail, attacking with ki blasts, only to be countered with more.

**_Pi-pi-pi!_**

Raditz dove, dropping down on the warring power levels like a hawk on a field-mouse. He blew trees away as he descended, snapping branches and splintering trunks. The sight that greeted his eyes, however, was not the one he had been expecting.

"Namekians?" The massive alien growled, touching down between the two green fighters. The two were frozen, staring at the newcomer in surprise and confusion. "I don't suppose either of you ugly brutes can talk?" Raditz sneered, evil dripping in his voice, "Or shall I just kill you both and be on my way?"

"Who are you?" The taller Namek growled, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why have you come to this planet?"

Raditz's gaze shifted to the smaller Namekian. His reddish eyes were trained on Raditz's tail. "Ah, so you've seen a Saiyan before? Good, perhaps we can negotiate." He took a step forward, swishing his tail around maliciously. "Where is he? Where is Kakarot?"

The Namekian's eyes flicked to Raditz's face, and the brow ridges furrowed as he stared at the Saiyan's face. "What are you looking at Ugly? Just answer my question!" Raditz reached for the Namek, but he snarled, lunging at the Saiyan's face with a punch.

The Saiyan responded by knocking the Namekian to the ground with a kick. A strangled yelp escaped the green man's mouth before he stood slowly, favoring a leg and touching his stomach gingerly. Raditz laughed, "Not too talkative, are you? Oh well, perhaps your friend knows!"

He rounded on the larger Namek, who squared off against him. Raditz cackled, preparing to have a little fun.

Piccolo looked between Raditz and Nail, before taking off in a limping run towards Gohan's house.

_He has a tail; he's looking for someone with a tail._ **_Saiyan_**_._ He remembered Gohan telling him that the kids at school thought he was weird. How they pulled his tail. **_Saiyan_**. Gohan was a _Saiyan_. He _wasn't_ human. Gohan could use telepathy, and had quickly learned several fighting tactics with ki. Saiyans were bred to fight. He knew that. How did he remember that, but not the tail? What did this Saiyan want with his Kid?

Gohan flipped through the channels. He wasn't allowed to watch TV very often, so he was taking full advantage of the opportunity. Finally his attention settled on something exploding, and his channel flicking ceased as he discovered a superhero movie.

"Piccolo could do that," He mumbled, watching a handsome man in a blue suit and red cape punch through a building. "He could do that easy. Easily," he corrected himself, knowing how his mother felt about poor grammar.

Suddenly, panicked knocking rapped on the door.

Gohan stiffened, contemplating hiding until the visitor left, but a voice in his head stopped him.

_/Kid! Kid, open up! Kid!/_

_/Piccolo?/ _Gohan scrambled over to the door, opening it to see the alien's purple pants. He looked up, a smile dying on his lips as Piccolo grabbed him roughly by the arm. He was clutched tightly to the Namekian's chest within seconds. _/What's wrong?/_He could feel Piccolo's heart hammering wildly as the Namek whirled around, staring back up into the trees_. /What's that roaring sound?/_

An explosion rocked the small plot of land, shattering windows and sending dirt and plants flying. Gohan screamed, but Piccolo's hand over his mouth stifled the sound.

"Your friend wasn't very fun, Ugly! Now come on out, and tell me where Kakarot is!"

/Hide your tail, Kid. Hide your -/

Raditz burst out of the floating debris, his large fist barely missing Piccolo's face. The Namekian threw Gohan behind him, hurling himself at Raditz with a snarl. Gohan crawled under a bush, shaking uncontrollably. What's happening?

As the debris settled, he gasped, seeing the attacker for the first time.

He had a tail.

**So hope that's enough of a cliff hanger for y'all :) I actually planned on another scene on the end of this, but it was getting long...**


	7. I Won't Let You Down

**So orginally, this was going to be the end of Chapter Six...But then any other chapter would have been pathetically short. Soooo I fleshed it out, and made it into its own chapter!**

**We're getting close to the end. There's probably only 3 more chapters after this.**

* * *

Chapter SEVEN

* * *

Gohan's breath hitched in his throat. _He has a tail, why? I thought..._

He was brought out of his stunned thoughts when the tailed man threw Piccolo to the ground not far from where the boy was hiding. Gohan stifled a gasp, backing himself farther under the bush until he hit the trunk.

"Where is Kakarot? I _know_ you know!" The Saiyan advanced once upon the fallen Namek, a bright ball of energy glowing in his hand.

Piccolo rolled to his feet, fangs barred and eyes narrowed.

"Come on, or do I have to _beat_ it out of you?!" Raditz threw the blast at the Namekian, who bounced it back. Raditz batted the ball away; it decimated several trees, starting a small fire in the underbrush. Piccolo attacked with a roundhouse kick, but Raditz caught his ankle, slamming the Namek into a side of the cottage before letting him go. Piccolo slumped to the ground, his body leaving cracks in the siding, now splattered with the purple blood oozing out of a gash on the back of his head. The Saiyan stooped, dragging Piccolo up by the front of his purple gi, shaking him roughly. "Now tell me before I snap your neck; **WHERE. IS. _KAKAROT?_** You've seen a Saiyan before me, so where is he?!"

Piccolo locked glares with the Saiyan for a long moment, before the wounded Namek spat in Raditz's face.

The Saiyan snapped, punching Piccolo hard across the mouth.

"You little shit!" he punched the Namek again, in the face, and again, again, again, purple blood covering his hand in seconds.

Gohan watched, gritting his teeth, breathing and heart rate quickening by the moment.

Raditz paused as the scouter beeped in his ear.

"What's this?" he growled, turning slowly toward the banged up cottage. "A higher power level?" he sounded intrigued, stepping toward the little house.

The bush rustled.

Piccolo shook his head. _No..._

Raditz's scouter beeped incessantly.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Gohan screamed, bursting out of the bush, tears brimming in his eyes.

Raditz sneered at the boy, noting the presence of a long, simian tail. "That's it? A child? That's what Kakarot's been doing then, eh?" he threw back his head in a laugh. "Damn Scouter is broken, unless Kakarot is in the house."

"Let him go!" Gohan growled, squaring off against the giant. "I mean it."

"Hahaha, and who's going to make me? Your daddy?" Gohan's face darkened.

_/Kid, get **out** of here!/ _Piccolo struggled in the Saiyan's grip, clawing at the calloused hand holding him. _/Kid!/ _But Gohan wasn't listening to him, he was twitching, glaring at Raditz with an expression on his little face Piccolo didn't like. The boy was enraged. Raditz tossed Piccolo to the side carelessly; the Namekian smashed through one of walls, and lay buried beneath the rubble.

"You, you hurt Piccolo!" Gohan snarled, hackles raised, fur on his tail bristling.

"So what if I did?" Raditz cackled, aiming a kick at the five year old. "Who's going to –"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. With a scream, Gohan leapt through the air, ramming his head into Raditz's sternum. The Saiyan's mouth opened as the wind was knocked from his lungs. Stumbling backwards, Raditz clutched at his chest, staring down at the cracked chest plate in shock.

Piccolo struggled out of the remnants of the wall, shaking the whitewash powder from his face. He looked up in time to see Gohan slam into Raditz's chest, in time to see the Saiyan take several steps backwards, in time to see Gohan land on his behind, looking dazed. Tearing himself free of the remaining wall, Piccolo scrambled over to Gohan, snatching the boy up in his arms. But he wasn't fast enough. A blast hit him from behind, sending him sprawling through rose bushes. Somehow, he held on to Gohan.

"I'm...impressed." Raditz began to stalk forward, still rubbing his bruising ribs. "So, you little scrap of garbage, where's Kakarot?" The Saiyan kicked Piccolo in the side, flipping him onto his back, "If you're this strong, then his power must be truly immense." He wrenched the boy from Piccolo's arms, planting his foot on Piccolo's chest as he did so. "Well?!"

Gohan squirmed, his head hurt, and this man was so loud!

"ANSWER ME!" Raditz shook Gohan roughly, "Where is Kakarot? Where is your father?!"

"M-my dad's name was Goku, n-no-not Carrot-top or whatever you said!" Gohan wriggled in the man's vice like grip, but his arms were trapped at his sides. "I don't know who or what you're talking 'bout but they aren't here!" Gohan looked down at Piccolo, the Namek didn't look much better than the day he'd first found him. His eyes were glassy with pain, and the left side of his face was swollen and bruised from Raditz's blows. "J-just let me go!"

"Not until you tell me where your father is!" A massive blast of ki was forming in the tailed-man's free hand. "Or I'll blast your head clean off." The Namekian beneath Raditz's boot thrashed, and he sank more weight on the foot.

"He's…" Gohan's eyes watered slightly, "He's dead."

"WHAT?" Raditz roared, clenching the hand holding Gohan. The little boy whimpered as he felt some of ribs crack. "Dead? What the Hell do you mean, DEAD?" The blast held in his free hand was released, ruining yet another wall of Gohan's little house. Shaking the boy roughly, he continued to scream at the child, "He cannot be dead! You are lying to me, you whelp!"

Gohan couldn't muster the strength to be mad, he was just too scared.

"St-stop it! Let me go!" Tears burned in his eyes, "Please! Just, just GO AWAY!" He kicked, wiggled, and finally bit down on Raditz's crushing hand.

"AAAARRRRGGHH!"

The momentary distraction was enough. Piccolo freed himself of the Saiyan with a vicious swipe of his claws. He picked up Gohan from where the Saiyan had dropped him. He could barely breathe, his chest burned where Raditz's foot had cracked his ribs. Piccolo held the boy against his chest with his left hand, firing energy blasts at their enemy with his right.

The Saiyan recovered, taking several of the ki blasts directly, but shooting even bigger ones right back at them.

"Thanks, come again soon," Chichi called, handing the man his coffee.

"Sure thing, Sugar," He replied coyly, "Maybe next time I'll buy you a drink, somewhere –"

"On second thought," Chichi grumbled, taking the man's money, "Enjoy your drink and take your time." As he left, she shook her head, muttering something about the male species. Glancing at the clock, Chichi sighed in relief; she had a half-hour break in five minutes. "Then just another three hours and I'm home for Gohan... He'll probably be -"

Sirens; police and fire, blared on the street outside of the coffee shop.

Her heart leapt into her throat. Chichi ran outside, "Don't turn left, oh God, don't turn let them turn left..."

The parade of emergency vehicles swerved left, up the mountain, lights flashing, sirens screaming.

She felt her heart drop to her knees.

"No...Gohan..." Chichi was running before she had completely processed the situation. Her baby was in trouble. "Gohan!"

Popo heard the explosion, looking around himself in worry. "Oh my, that came from the direction Nail was headed! I wonder if he met up with Ma Junior?" The genie frowned, unraveling his magic carpet and bounding up onto it. "I do hope that Nail is not hurt!"

Dazed, Gohan struggled in the arms that held him. "Lemme goooo!" He whimpered, pushing against the ridged bicep. Too many lights, too much shouting!

And then there was silence.

When he came to, the lights and noise were different from the ones he had passed out with.

"Piccolo?" he whispered, looking around in worry and confusion. "Piccolo, where are you?" The boy crawled out from under a piece of roofing. _How did I get there? _He wondered, rubbing his head. Gohan stood up, blinking in confusion at the all of the firemen and policemen gathered around his home. He heard his mother's screaming voice calling desperately for him. He heard Baba's voice yelling at her.

_"Mamma?!"_ Gohan stumbled forward toward the sound of her voice. "Mamma I'm okay!"

**_"Gohan!"_** Chichi burst tore through the police line, yellow tape fluttering to the ground. "Gohan, baby, oh God," she fell to her knees, pulling him tight to her chest, sobbing hysterically into his hair.

"It's okay, Mamma," Gohan hugged her back squeezing his eyes shut tight. "I love you, Mamma," he whispered, beginning to shake as the reality of the situation sank in.

"I love you too," Chichi choked, looking at him closely for the first time, "Baby you're hurt," she whispered, touching a bruise on his forehead. "What's this?" Purple blood came away on her hands.

"P-Piccolo!" He gasped; his white shirt was stained violet.

"What's going on here?!" It was Baba. "Why on _Earth_ was he left here alone?"

Gohan felt his mother stiffen.

"I..."

He felt Baba grab his arm, pulling him away from Chichi's warmth.

"Where am I going?" he heard his voice ask, heard Baba's reply of "the hospital," before being put into a car. "It was aliens," Gohan said loudly, "It was a big guy and Piccolo." But no one was listening.

He heard his mother yelling something obscene, followed by:

"You can't take him from me! I'm the only one that understands him, you take him away from that and he won't make it!"

"You _obviously_ don't understand what it means to be a _mother_." Baba turned away from the car. "Leaving a boy home alone! He's _five!"_

"It was Aliens," Gohan whispered again.

"He _needs_ me!" Chichi screamed, one of the policemen held her arms, stopping her from attacking Baba.

"I think it's you that needs him." Baba snapped, slamming the car door shut.

_She's taking me away. She's not taking me to the hospital. She's taking me away from my mom. _

He felt sick.

Before his mind could process what he was doing, Gohan was out the other side of the car. And running.

Hot tears blurred his vision. The scenery in front of him appeared to be nothing more than a finger painting - a myriad of colors and shapes blending into one unintelligible landscape.

_No, no, no, no, noooo! __They can't take me from my mom! She needs me! I need her! I -_

Suddenly, his foot landed in a puddle of slippery goo. His legs splayed out in front of him, and he went down in slimy substance, sliding smack-dab into a body. Gohan scrabbled away from it, bile rising in his throat as he realized that the mud he had slipped in was actually a mix of blood and ruined organs.

Hardly daring to breathe, he looked up. "Piccolo?!" It came out as a squeak. A green man, shirtless and destroyed, lay across his path. But...it wasn't Piccolo. It couldn't be, could it?! He scooted backwards on his butt away from it, shaking his head, it looked too big to be Piccolo, but who else could it be?

A rustling in the bushes drew a scream from his throat.

_/Kid?/ _

Piccolo limped out of the shadows, left arm hanging uselessly at his side, body covered in blood, and panting heavily. _/What are you doing out here? Hide yourself./_

"Piccolo!" the cry of relief escaped his throat and he lunged at the alien's leg, latching on and burying his face in the soft purple fabric. "You're not d-dead! Y-you're no-not dead," He hiccupped.

Piccolo grimaced, seeing Nail behind Gohan.

_/No...but you have to go home. That Saiyan is close -/_

Gohan stiffened. "You lead him straight to my house," he snapped, pushing himself away from Piccolo. "Why would you do that?" The boy had to crane his head back to look at Piccolo in the face.

_/He was looking for someone,/_ Piccolo's eyes narrowed, _/I didn't want him to find you so I -/_ but Gohan interrupted;

"So you ran to my HOUSE? How was letting him follow you helping to keep him from finding me?"

_/I didn't think he'd finish off Nail that Quickly!/_ the Namek gestured toward the bloody body not far from them_. /I thought I had time to get you and hide you somewhere far away from here!/_

"Well you _didn't!_ And now," Gohan was yelling, mouth open wide and eyes pinched shut, "_NOW BABA WANTS TO TAKE ME AWAY FROM MY **MOM!**_ Because you led that monster to my house and BLEW IT **UP**!"

_/Gohan.../_ He didn't see the lost expression on Piccolo's face, didn't hear the hurt in his voice.

"I can't believe this!" Gohan sobbed, still furious, scared and sick. "I can't go home, but I can't stay here, and it's_ your_ fault!" He turned to leave, avoiding the still-oozing Namekian body.

And then...

"_There_ you are!"

Gohan shrieked as Raditz's heavy hand snatched him up, holding him at arm's length by the head. Piccolo snarled, attacking the Saiyan for the umpteenth time.

"Honestly Namek, you'd think you'd have learned by now that your pathetic attacks do little against me!" Raditz laughed as he batted the weakened warrior away with ease. Piccolo landed in a heap, not far from Nail, and struggled to get to his feet.

"Since my brother's dead, I suppose I'll take you instead," Raditz sneered, smirking when Gohan trembled and gasped. He shook the boy, knowing he was yanking hairs from the child's scalp as he did so, "Didn't you see the resemblance? I'm your uncle, you pathetic whelp!"

"P-put me d-down!"

Chichi and Baba didn't notice Gohan's escape until the diminutive old woman stepped into her car. "You can present your case in court, but until then the boy comes with me."

"Please," Chichi was past anger at this point, tears poured down her face, "Please, I just lost my husband; don't take my son from me too!"

Baba said nothing, reaching for her seatbelt.

"Gohan!" Chichi wrenched the back door open, ignoring the police and Baba. "Go-?! Where is he?!"

"WHAT?!" Baba's neck snapped around so quickly it cracked, "How?" Her mouth opened and closed like a landed fish.

"Gohan..." Chichi whispered, eyes following the deer trail through the woods. Walking around the car, she headed into the shadowy trees, with only her little son in mind.

She wasn't sure where Gohan would have ran off to, but she was not going to stop until she found him.

"Gohan!" Chichi called in a stage whisper, kneeling down and looking under bushes. She crawled along on the forest floor, peering around for hiding spots that would look promising to a five year old. "Gohan, baby where are you?"

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced the air. Chichi's heart leapt into her chest, "Gohan!"

She seemed to fly over the underbrush, branches that would have hampered her progress snapped as she rushed past. _I'm coming, Gohan!_

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**Chapter Eight... Well it'll be intense as well. It make take a little longer, I'm getting ready for school, so life just complicated and my schedule just cramped! I'll try my best to keep this on an almost weekly basis, but I have a couple of essays that I have to write... I'll do my best, my friends! I promise!**

**PS - sorry that the end was a little rushed, the next few scenes are in the skeletal process right now, and I just got back from a daytrip.**


	8. All That You Are

**CHAPTER EIGHT! – **

**"All That You Are" by the Goo Goo Dolls**

**I got this out pretty quickly, huh? :) At least I think so :) Thanks to everyone for the support, and PLEASE keep the lovely reveiws coming!**

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Chichi skidded to a halt, spotting the back of a giant man with a wild mane of spiked black hair.

"Didn't you see the resemblance? I'm your uncle you pathetic whelp!" A harsh voice barked.

Chichi gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth and spinning to hide behind a tree. Hardly daring to look, she peeked around the trunk, mouth falling open.

The man had a tail. Just like Gohan's. Just like the one that had adorned Goku's backside when he was child.

The man had something else, too. He had Gohan.

Before she could so much as blink, a movement caught her eye. It wasn't far from her son's kidnapper, seven or eight feet to the front and left of him. It was a hand. A green hand, which had only four clawed fingers, rose slowly from the ground. A bright ball of light gleamed and shimmered on the odd appendage before it blasted toward the man holding Gohan. It hit the wild man's thigh, burning the skin and scorching the leg hair.

"Honestly Ugly, that was just sad. I barely even felt that."

Piccolo groaned, his head falling back into the disgusting muddy mix. It was hopeless.

_/I'm sorry, Kid…/ _He wasn't sure if Gohan heard his mental apology_. /That's all I've got, I'm sorry…/_ All he could taste was blood. All he could smell was blood. Blood, blood, blood…

"P-Pi-Piccolo!" Gohan wheezed. It was enough – just enough – to get the Namek to force his head up. _/D-don't leave me, Okay?/ _The boy's eyes were wide and terrified.

_/O-okay…/_But he couldn't move. He tried once again to stand, but it was futile. His body just wouldn't listen!

"Say goodbye, Brat." Raditz shook the boy again, "We're leaving!"

_N-no!_ Piccolo gritted his teeth, heaving himself forward. His left arm screamed in agony, his fractured ribs cried, his head roared, but most of all, his heart burned. _Not the Kid, please!_

It was too late.

Raditz lifted off of the ground, straight up into the air, Gohan hanging limply in his hand. Tears poured from the boy's eyes, rolling down his face and off of his chin.

_/KID!/_ But they were gone.

Piccolo gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw until the muscles ached. He slammed his right fist into the ground, snarling as blood and mud splattered across his face. _Kid, I'm so sorry…_

"Y-you really l-love that b-boy, do-don't you?"

Piccolo jumped out his skin, looking at the body next to him. "Ye-yeah, I'm alive. Wipe that stupid look off your face." Nail gurgled, turning his head to the side with great effort. Piccolo's eyes were instantly drawn to the gaping hole in the Namekian's chest and abdomen. Ribs were visible, and the organs were only halfway inside. Piccolo grimaced. "You've ch-changed, haven't you?" Blood dribbled out the side of Nail's mouth as his black eyes locked on to Piccolo's burgundy irises. "Even, even your eyes are darker."

Piccolo's brow furrowed, and his mouth opened slightly as he cocked his head to the side. He had not looked at his reflection recently, not even when he was near the river.

_/My…Eyes?/_

_/Yes,/ _Nail sounded relieved to speak telepathically_. /You're different, and it's because of that child, isn't it? He's changed you for the better. And you want to save him./_

_/Of course I want to save him!/ _Piccolo snapped, baring his fangs at the dying warrior._ /But I can't! I'm drained. I have nothing left!/_

Nail seemed to hesitate. His face scrunched up for a moment, though whether from pain or something else Piccolo didn't know.

_/I…It is possible that I can help you./_

Piccolo snorted, trying to push himself up, but failing once again.

_/How? You'll be dead in an hour./_

_/Fuse with me./_

Popo flew over the treetops, looking for signs of Nail and Ma Junior. Smoke rose from a small patch of the forest near the base of one of the mountains. The genie frowned, swooping low over the area. Suddenly, a man whizzed past him, laughing maniacally and heading south.

"My, how irresponsible!" Popo exclaimed, regaining control of his magic carpet. "I don't like the feel of the man. Oh, I do hope Nail has come to no harm!"

Chichi's knees shook, that man took her baby… _he took my baby. Oh God, my baby, my Gohan…_

She felt faint, he had flown. _Flown._ Flown away with her baby. Her stomach churned. "Oh God…" her legs started to give out on her, her head spun._ No, no not now! _She thought, even as her eyes rolled up into her head just before she collapsed.

_/What?/ _Piccolo recoiled, _/Fuse?/_

_/Yes,/ _Nail's body was suddenly wracked by horrendous coughs. He gagged on blood until he managed to turn his head enough to spit it out. _/If you fuse with me, your strength will more than triple. You'll be able to save that child of yours./_

The smaller Namekian narrowed his eyes, ears twitching.

_/Why do you offer this?/_ he asked suspiciously, trying to ignore the growing ache in chest. He tried to push all thoughts of his Kid from his mind._ /You will not simply die, you'll be gone. Forever./_

_/B-because,/ _Nail smiled weakly,_ /You are willing to die for that boy. You have found your Dende./_ He grew serious once again. _/Now, do you want to save him or not? My time is near its end. If you want the power to save him, you must fuse with me now./_

Piccolo hesitated, but only for a moment.

_/Take my hand,/_ Nail said quietly, shifting the arm nearest to Piccolo as much as he could.

Piccolo gritted his teeth, mustering all of his strength to swing his hand over to Nail. Two sets of weakening fingers clasped one another, two pairs of eyes locked on each other, and a one blinding flash of light surrounded the two Namekians.

Popo gasped, feeling Nail's ki shrink rapidly. "No…" He whispered, descending upon the unnatural clearing. "Nail!"

The genie saw the piercing white light, squinting in order to see the faint outlines of two Namekians. His heart skipped a beat as he realized what that meant. Nail wasn't just going to die. He was going to disappear! Nothing would bring him back! Not Namekian Magic, not reincarnation – nothing! Absorption. It was worse than murder in Namekian society. The act of one taking over the body of another, literally sucking them in and obliterating their being, was considered an abomination. Popo had not thought even Ma Junior would sink to such a level!

And it was too late to stop it.

"Where are you taking me?" Gohan asked, still dangling limply from Raditz's hand like a scolded kitten.

Raditz glanced down at the child; the tears had stopped a while back, now only the occasional sniffle plagued his ears. He supposed it was a question worth answering.

"You are one of the last remaining Saiyans – even with your tainted blood – and we need more manpower for our latest conquest."

"C-conquest?" The boy squeaked, "Like, taking over?" He began to shake again.

"Yes!" Raditz bit out the single syllable, "Purging planets of their native inhabitants and selling the empty rocks to the highest bidder. You see, us Saiyans are a warlike sort. One day you too shall learn the joys of battle, of killing."The Saiyan smirked cruelly.

"Th-that's n-not nice."

He shook the boy fiercely, eliciting a cry of fear as Gohan's shirt slipped up his back.

"It's a long way to fall, Brat. Care to voice any more opinions?"

"N-no," Gohan whimpered, wrapping his tail tightly around his knees, gripping the end and sticking it in his mouth.

_Light? That can't be right, I'm in the woods. The woods!__** Gohan!**_Chichi sat bolt upright, clutching her head as blood rushed to eyes, creating black and yellow fireworks that exploded in her vision. She almost passed out again, but the dizzy spell passed. She stood, using the tree as a ladder. _What is all of that light?_ Chichi wondered, just as it started to fade. _An aftershock of fainting? _Turning slowly, careful not to jar her still shaky body too much, Chichi saw the source of the unnatural light. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, seeing the bodies encased in it. The nearer one seemed to be disappearing, even as the father one became clearer.

When the light dissipated, the woods were left more shadowy than ever. _And colder, somehow. _She shivered, hugging her orange shawl closer to her shoulders. The green man pushed himself up into a crouching position, standing slowly, looking at his hands in what appeared to be surprise. _It was his hand then_, she realized,_ it was his hand that – Oh my God, he's green._ Her brain had finally caught up to her eyes, and was working in hyper drive.

Little pieces of conversations began to pop up in her mind. Doodles she'd found in Gohan's notebooks of aliens – _alien,_ she corrected herself, _only one_. The name Piccolo.

That was Piccolo. Not a deer. An alien. Her head began to spin again, but Chichi gritted her teeth, _NO! Not again, not until I get my baby back!_

"This, this is incredible…" The green man said quietly, "I can talk, I'm healed, I feel… I feel amazing." He voice sounded gravely, hoarse even. Like he hadn't used it in weeks. "I can do this, I can save the Kid. I can –" Piccolo stopped short, glaring up at the skies, "Wha- No!"

She missed it, whatever it was had been too fast for her eyes to follow. Chichi found herself watching as the alien struggled in vain against a black being that gripped his antennae. The genie twisted one, and Piccolo stiffened, unable to move.

"You killed Nail." The odd being stated, not loosening his grip on Piccolo's antennae.

"N-no, Popo, I –" The green man began, but the genie interrupted him.

"I saw it myself."

Chichi didn't care about what had happened. She cared only for Gohan.

She stepped out into the clearing, suddenly fearless. The two aliens froze.

"Where's Gohan?" Her voice was flat.

"I – I'm sorry," Mister Popo stammered, "I do not know of whom you are referring –"

"GOHAN!" Chichi screamed, finally loosing it, "Gohan, my son! He's a little boy, with black hair and big dark eyes, about this big," She spread her hands, one on top of the other, about four feet apart, "And he hangs around with that thing!" Chichi pointed at Piccolo, who narrowed his eyes, looking hurt. "Where did that man take him? The man with the tail!" Tears clogged her throat. She couldn't breathe. "Gohan," she sobbed.

"I," Popo glanced at Piccolo, "I do not know the child, but I saw the man you speak of."

"I know the Kid," Piccolo whispered, "I can save him." He twitched, feebly trying to loosen the grip Popo had on the base of his antennae. _Damn pressure points_. His whole body felt numb! What was the use of all this power if he couldn't access it?! "Let go of me."

"I can't do that," Popo said, looking between the demon and the woman. "I must bring you back to Kami."

"Let him go," Chichi begged, wringing her hands, "Please, bring him wherever you're taking him after my son is safe. Please!" Tears cascaded from her eyes – _Gohan's eyes_ – Piccolo thought. "Please…"

Popo shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss, but I cannot. This man is to be tried for his crimes against his people, and –"

"If you let me go," Piccolo interrupted, "I will turn myself into Kami. I swear it. Let me save the Kid, and I will go willingly."

Chichi's ears perked, her heart fluttered, and she held her breath, awaiting Popo's reply.

"No. No I cannot risk it. You are a demon, and demon's lie."

"I'm not lying! I swear it! I –" Chichi didn't hear the rest of the conversation, she only knew that her last hope was being dragged away from her.

"No," she shook her head, positively quaking in rage and loss. "No, you're going to save my son."

Neither Popo nor Piccolo heard her.

**CLANG!**

Popo gasped, the hand twisting Piccolo's antennae went limp, releasing the stuck Namek. He fell, the genie landing on top of him. With a growl, Piccolo kicked Popo from him, leaping to his feet and searching for a new foe. He only saw Chichi, in a shaky fighting stance, a frying pan clutched in her hands.

"Save my son. I don't care about what you've done or who you are," her voice was surprisingly calm. "Just bring my Gohan back to me."

Chichi didn't need to tell him twice. Like a cork shot from a bottle of champagne, Piccolo rocketed skyward, angling south and disappearing in flash of pure energy, a bright trail lingering behind him.

* * *

**Chapter nine will be up as soon as I finish at least one of my four essays that I need to write... XD**

**Love you all!**

**Wulfeh**


	9. Evil Angel

**"Evil Angel" by Breaking Benjamin**

**Whew, sorry about the wait in between eight and nine, but I got two of my biology/chemistry essays done! Without further ado, I present chapter nine.**

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"When do I get to come home?"

Raditz gritted his teeth. So many dammed questions!

"Shut up, whelp. One more ridiculous question and I'll kill you. Got that?"

The boy mumbled something incoherent, shivering in his grip. Raditz began their descent, spiraling down to the ruined farm.

"What happ - Ahhh!" Raditz released the boy's shirt, allowing him to plummet to the earth below. The screams were worse than the questions though.

"I almost hope he splatters." The Saiyan ground his teeth audibly. "But Prince Vegeta will kill me if I came all of the way out here for nothing. Dammit."

The Saiyan sped up to grab the screaming child, but blinked in surprise. "The Hell?"

_**Just think of something that makes you feel as if you are levitating.**_

Piccolo's voice resonated in his head, overpowering the screaming in that quiet way of his.

At the beach. All of those times when he'd plopped himself in the alien's lap. _**Float, Kid, float**__! _He stopped._ I'm either dead, or floating._

Gohan opened one eye, just a hair._ I'm floating! _He rejoiced, unable to move, but alive. The ground was still ten feet away, but the boy wasn't thinking about getting the rest of the way down. _I did it! I'm doing it! Oh gosh!_ The lapse in concentration disrupted his balance, and he fell the last ten feet, landing flat on his face. It hurt. Gohan picked himself up painfully, brushing the prickly hay from his arms and head. Every inch of exposed skin itched horribly, the source of which appeared to be the cuts caused by the stiff grass. "Ouch," he whimpered, touching a cut above his eye. It was deeper than the other scratches; his hand came away sticky with scarlet.

"I must say, whelp, I thought you were going to splash against the hard ground!" He whipped around to see Raditz touch down behind him. The movement made his head spin, "Prince Vegeta will be pleased; you're a fast learner." The full-blooded Saiyan stooped, grabbing Gohan by the scruff again.

"I-I-I do-don't wanna g-g-go!" Gohan whispered. "I want my mamma…"

"SHUT. UP." Raditz stomped over to the tilting barn, kicking the wall that obscured his space pod. It crumbled with a groan. The pod popped open at Raditz's touch, and he tossed the boy inside. "I don't care what you want. We're leaving." With that, the wild-haired Saiyan stepped inside, pushing Gohan down onto the floor by his feet. "Now sit still."

Chichi stared after the fading trail of light, praying that she'd done the right thing. It was the _only_ thing she could have done.

"Please," she whispered, turning her eyes heavenward in prayer, "Goku, protect Gohan, and bring him back to me..."

"How long until we land?" Kami rasped, sitting in one of the numerous chairs occupying the ship. He felt odd, light headed and out-of-touch with the surrounding world, yet completely present and grounded at the same time. The elderly Namekian sensed that his young counterpart was encountering some sort of turmoil. _I wish I could read his thoughts! _Kami cursed to himself; at one point, he had possessed that capability, but the boy had learned to block long ago. _What on earth is going on?_ The detached feelings suddenly erupted into a volcano of power. Kami's blood ran cold in his veins. Only one thing could create such an intense sensation. Fusion – _No_, he corrected himself, _**absorption**_. _Nail would never agree to fuse with that abomination. _

"Ten minutes, sir." Moori replied, checking the screen. "We tracked Popo's ship to a small mountainous area on the planet. We'll be touching down near there."

"Very good," Kami said quietly, dreading what they would find.

"_What the Hell do you mean, 'Kakarot's dead?'" _

Raditz winced as his superior screamed through the headpiece.

"I mean his brat told me he died, Vegeta," he spat, thoroughly annoyed. He was preparing the pod for takeoff, pressing buttons and kicking Gohan out of the way. The boy was huddled on the floor as far from Raditz as the miniscule pod allowed. "I'm taking the boy with me; he managed to damage my armor, though he'll need some serious training. Damn whelp's a sheltered little shit."

"_We don't have time for that!"_ Vegeta barked, _"Honestly, Bardock's line is waste. You're pathetic and your brother's dead. Too bad you can't live up to his legacy."_

Raditz ignored the scathing remark with difficulty. He'd be in trouble with the quick tempered Prince if he retorted.

"We'll be back on Frieza Planet 419 in eight months."

"EIGHT MONTHS?!" Gohan piped up, panicked. "I can't be in here that long! It's so small!"

"_The Hell was that?"_

Raditz kicked Gohan viciously, smirking at the pained yelp that punctuated the sound of several ribs snapping.

"Just the brat."

"_Don't break it," _Vegeta growled,_ "After all of the money you wasted going to that backwater rock, you had better come back with __**something**__!"_

The ship whirred and rumbled as the engine revved up. Gohan fell forward, unseated by the sudden lurching movement it made as it rose into the sky. His eyes were already watering from pain, but huge tears poured over his salt-crusted cheeks again. _I'm never gonna see Mamma or Piccolo again…_

It was exhilarating. He had never felt so strong, so able, _so_ _alive_, as he did right at that moment. Piccolo had already flown faster than his previous top speed, and knew that he could go even faster. _But I have to save my strength. I have to save Gohan._ The Saiyan's energy signature had stopped, and he could feel Gohan's frightened ki jumping up and down. Two more minutes. He gritted his teeth.

_I'm coming Kid. Just hold on. _

One more minute. Gohan's ki dropped dramatically.

_Don't you dare die on me!_

Thirty seconds. He could see them. The pod was moving.

_Damn it, No!_

_**Pi, pi, pi!**_ The scouter bleeped aggravatingly in the Saiyan's ear, but he disregarded it. Damn thing was broken. Raditz pulled a compact lever, removing the brakes from the claustrophobic pod.

**-Preparing for flight,- **the computer said robotically,** -Secure straps during initial movement.-**

"NO!" The pod shook as it blasted up into the sky. Piccolo was buffeted back by the force of its liftoff, but righted himself in the air in time to see it angling off, no longer completely vertical. Swearing explosively, Piccolo followed it, faster than ever. He wasn't catching up. He was losing it.

He dug deep; deeper than he thought was possible, finding another burning pool of ki. Piccolo plunged into the secret reserve of strength, snarling as the power engulfed him.

He threw a blast of energy at the escaping pod.

It hit.

**Pi, pi, pi! Pi, pi, pi, piiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!**

The pod rocked with the force of a massive explosion.

"What the –?" Raditz bit his tongue as the pod shuddered. Lacking a seatbelt, Gohan was hurled about the cabin, injuring himself further.

"_What was that?"_ Vegeta's voice barked through the computer_, "You idiot, did you remove the brakes?"_

"Of course I did!" Swearing, Raditz began frantically checking the computer screens._ What the hell just happened? I know I removed the brake!_

**-Error, error, error –**

"_Radtiz –"_ The scouter bleeped several more times, before blowing up in the Saiyan's face, cutting Vegeta off.

Another explosion. The pod shook, and Gohan came to painful halt, wedged between the wall and Raditz's seat.

Very suddenly, the pod door was torn open, metal crunching and screaming as it was bent out of shape.

"It's, it's not possible!" Raditz gasped, gaping as their attacker was revealed.

"All personal to their seats. We will be landing in five minutes."

Kami closed his eyes, gripping his staff tightly as the ship began its descent.

_I only pray Nail is the only casualty of my folly… _

His heart soared when the blast connected. Piccolo put on a burst of speed he didn't know he possessed. The Namekian surged forward, closing the gap between himself and the damaged pod in seconds. Piccolo stretched his arms, grabbing the space ship before it could recover. Quite literally reeling himself in, the Namekian latched on to the ship, finding the hatch. Gritting his fangs, he forced his fingers between the hatch and the walls of the pod, planting his feet and throwing his weight against the ship.

The screaming metal burned his ears, but he ignored it. Snarling, Piccolo tore through the door, ripping the pod open.

"It's, it's not possible! You were finished!" Raditz gaped at him for a moment, recovering quickly. "This time I'll just have to make sure!"

"I don't think so," Piccolo bared his fangs, brows drawn tightly over narrowed eyes. "Where. Is. The. Kid?" Light was growing in his palm, illuminating his face from below.

Raditz responded by throwing a blast in Piccolo's face. The Namekian blurred out of sight; the attack seemed to go right through him. The Saiyan swore, kicking the brakes on the pod to ensure it wouldn't go anywhere during the fight. He flew out of the pod only to have a boot connect with his face, throwing him down several feet. Piccolo followed the man down, kicking and punching every available area on the Saiyan's body. Raditz managed to break free, swinging his leg around, knee grinding into Piccolo's ribcage. The Namek grunted, but retaliated with a double-fisted, over-the-head slam. The same move had failed with Nail, but Piccolo's speed had increased exponentially. It connected, stunning Raditz. He kicked the Saiyan straight up into the air, sending a massive ki blast after him, hitting him square in the back. Raditz shook it off with difficulty, whipping around to glare at the Namekian.

"I don't know how you healed so quickly, nor how you improved this much, but I will kill -" He was cut off as he had to dodge a deadly blast.

Piccolo phased in behind the Saiyan, bring his foot down on the man's skull with an audible crack. Raditz plummeted earthward.

This time, Piccolo didn't follow. He flew up to the stationary pod, peering inside.

"Kid?" he whispered, looking around desperately. He didn't know how quickly Raditz would recover.

"P-Piccolo?" A hoarse little voice reached his ears. Gohan was wedged between the wall of the pod and the only seat in the machine. Blood oozed from a swollen cut above the boy's darkening eye. Superficial scrapes adorned his arms and in the areas where his ruined shirt had ripped. Appalled, Piccolo reached in, disentangling the child from the mess; he realized that his attack on the pod had more than likely caused several of the injuries. The boy clung to Piccolo's tattered shirt like a lifeline, burying his small face in the Namek's chest. "You saved me," he sobbed, little body shaking and heaving. His tail curled around Piccolo's wrist, sobs becoming more desperate as pain shot through the broken ribs.

Piccolo felt Gohan's tears wet the front of his gi, and he shifted his arm to better support the boy. The Namek winced as he felt a massive swelling on the boy's side. Gohan whimpered.

"I promised, didn't I?" he said pointedly, pushing out of the ruined pod and looking around for Raditz. "You asked me not to leave you. So I didn't."

Gohan looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," he wheezed; his sides ached and burned with every breath he took. "I'm s-so sorry!"

"Shut it, Kid. It's fine. Just breathe."

Gohan nodded weakly, slumping against Piccolo's chest.

"Well!" Raditz's voice sounded in their ears, "Isn't this touching?!"

Piccolo growled, whirling around to face his foe. He clutched Gohan more closely to him. Fighting one handed wasn't something he was looking forward to, but it didn't look like he had another choice.

"Hang on, Kid." He shifted the boy slightly, freeing up his right side even more. "It's going to be fine.

Gohan bit back a whimper of pain as Piccolo accidently jostled his bruised little body. _How can he have this? Raditz beat him up really badly last time!_ It occurred to the boy that Piccolo felt different. Stronger for sure, and far more confident. _He got better so quickly, and he can talk again! What happened?_

_/I'll tell you later./_

He looked up at the Namekian, who smirked down at him. Gohan smiled uncertainly, and nodded.

_/Okay./_

"I'll admit it, Ugly," A horrible spasm jerked across the enraged Saiyan's face, "you're good!" Raditz threw back his head in a cruel laugh, "but not good enough! Got it? I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you for damaging my pod, for delaying me, for having the audacity to challenge me! Then, I'm taking the brat and blowing this whole damn rock to smithereens!"

Piccolo said nothing, slowly raising his right hand to his forehead. "What, no witty comeback? No rank banter? No last words?" Raditz grinned maniacally, "Well, then, say good bye to the boy. You won't be seeing him until he ends up in hell like you!"

The Namekian bared his fangs, teeth grinding audibly as blood vessels popped on his forehead and arm. Piccolo felt intense heat building on his fingertips; crackling and snapping like lightning.

Raditz cackled, "SAY GOODBYE!" an enormous blast of pure energy sailed from his hands, soaring towards Gohan and Piccolo. Raditz sneered, at the angle the Namekian floated, the boy would barely be harmed! _That idiot is blocking the brat completely!_

"Light of Death," Piccolo whispered, drawing his hand slowly away from his forehead. In one swift, fluid motion, he pointed at Raditz, and a spiraling beam of light barreled towards the Saiyan, faster than the eye could follow. Raditz's attack dissipated as Piccolo's hit it head on, boring through the would-be fatal blast. The Saiyan's eyes widened with shock. It hit Raditz in the chest plate, directly over the crack Gohan's head had made earlier.

"This, this can't be happening! Impossible! I am Raditz! I am -" he never finished his sentence; the beam drove through his chest, tearing through tissue and bone before exiting out the Saiyan's back. Blood spurted from the wound and Raditz's mouth. He gagged, clutching at the gaping hole where his heart used to be. A horrific gurgle escaped his mouth, his eyes rolled up in his head, his body arced backward like a dancer's, and he fell.

* * *

**Wow, there was quite a bit of blood in this one, wasn't there? And I snuck in some classic, DBZ child abuse. Good for me. I used the literal translation for the makakosappo ...(spelling?) instead of "special beam cannon", since it's more sinister...and less silly. I think it can technically be translated as "Demon Light of Death" and "Spiral Death Beam" and other stuff but "Light of Death" sounds nice :)**

**…Gohan darling, here's a lollipop. And a "Get Well Soon" card… Piccolo, stop looking at me like that… CHICHI GIMME THE FRYING PAN!**

**Anyway… I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will be the final chapter… It's been a good run, guys! I've had this set to be a ten-chapter fic from the beginning, but I *might* do an epilogue ;-) Regardless, I will be drawing lots of art for He Mele No Lilo and My Little Lolita's masterpiece, Watching. All will be on my dA account (link in my profile)... Account user name is ShirePower. There is lots of DBZ and horses and even some YuGiOh! work on it. I only have 2 hmnl pieces but as soon as I wrap up the story and some projects I have and get my schedule under control, I'll be drawing more :)**

**Till Chapter 10!**

**~Wulfeh**


	10. Better Days

**CHAPTER TEN – Better Days by Breaking Benjamin**

**So sorry that this took this long. I got slammed with worked this past week… So sorry… But I believe this is worth the wait. It's 20 Microsoft pages, and the usual chapters are 6 to 8! It's been a great run, everyone.**

**Please enjoy the final chapter of **_**He Mele No Lilo**_

Piccolo sighed, suddenly drained. His right arm dropped back to his side as his flight wobbled. The Namek wasn't done yet. With a grunt, he lifted his arm again, and fired a blast at the damaged pod, destroying the object. Not the memory.

"How badly are you hurt?" He asked, descending to the ruined farm. He had to make sure Radtiz was dead. Gohan trembled in his arms. "Hey, Kid?" Piccolo's feet touched the charred earth with a muffled crunch. Gohan said nothing, merely burying his face further into the Namekian's chest. Supporting the boy with both arms, Piccolo walked slowly towards what he hoped was Raditz's corpse. A dead human lay sprawled, fifty yards away from the prone Saiyan. Another victim of wanton violence. Ignoring it, and the frightened dogs creeping around the edges of the property, he continued toward Raditz.

Crimson blood pooled around the Saiyan; out of his mouth, nose, ears, and the remnants of his chest. Gohan took the opportunity to peek, and was nearly sick.

"Y-you k-k-killed him," he whispered, eyes bulging out of his head. "He, he's dead. Dead." The boy's painful quivers erupted into bone-rattling tremors. "You killed him," Gohan whimpered, staring up at Piccolo. Water sat in his big dark eyes, threatening to spill over once again.

"Yeah," Piccolo replied softly, nudging the corpse with his foot. "He's dead. And I killed him." _And he deserved it,_ he added silently, glaring at the bloodshot eyes of his dead enemy. _I don't regret doing it._

"C-can you take me back to my Mama?" Gohan burbled, voice thick with the seemingly endless onslaught of tears.

Piccolo looked down at the boy, his face softening. Without a word, he nodded, taking off gently and flying slowly.

"I think my ribs are broken," Gohan's voice was barely audible, even to Piccolo's keen ears. The boy's face was as white as a skeleton left to bleach in the desert sun, except where blood or bruises colored his skin. "He kicked me. Really hard."

"What happened Vegeta?"

The Prince scowled, scanning the information bleeping across the high-tech computer screen, "It looks like a pod error. That idiot Raditz probably forgot to disengage some safety mechanism before the launch. The whole thing blew itself to bits." He scowled, thick dark brows furrowing over cruel eyes, his angular face made more brutal by the contrast between the dark room and the illumination from the monitor. "Pity, we're down a man."

The bald Saiyan behind Vegeta crossed his overly muscled arms, biceps and triceps reflecting off the glowing screens. "Should we go check it out, Vegeta?"

"No," Vegeta snapped, "That ass wasted enough of our money as it is, Nappa. Have you any idea how much debt we'll be in if the two of us go all of the way out there for nothing?" He ran a hand through gravity-defying spiked hair. "Kakarot's dead, Radtiz is dead, and he had the Kakabrat with him when the pod exploded. They're all dead."

"Pity," Nappa muttered, "I enjoyed having someone to kick around."

"Hmph," Vegeta stood, sweeping past Nappa with the grace of well-bred noble; imperious and disdainful. "He was practically useless anyway…"

She paced, heart thudding painfully in her chest. What if the alien – Piccolo – couldn't save Gohan? What would happen to her baby? Dark eyes watched the sky frantically for some sign of their return. _Please, oh please…_ A groan from behind her caused Chichi to squeak in fear, whirling around. Her frying pan held out in front of her like a sword, she stared at Popo. The round little genie was finally waking up.

"My Goodness, Miss," he moaned, sitting up and adjusting his turban. "That was quite the hit." He looked sadly at her, "But I must ask why you did it. Ma Junior is evil. How could you unleash such an abomination?"

Lowering the frying pan slowly, Chichi looked Popo in the eyes. "He offered to save my son," she replied evenly; "He was my only option. I don't care **who** he is, or **what** he's done. I don't even care if he's wanted for **murder** –"

"– _**Mass**_ _murder_ –" Popo interjected; Chichi ignored him, raising her voice both in volume and in pitch.

"– Pickle-what's-his-face is going to bring **my son back and THAT IS **_**ALL**_** I CARE ABOUT!**" Popo shrank away from her, already large eyes bugging out of his head. Chichi's usually immaculate bun had fallen loose, ebony tresses dangling around her face. She looked like a madwoman. "Now leave me the **Hell** alone! I have enough to deal with." Chichi stared down Popo, a reckless courage burning in her eyes. The genie relented.

"I shall not bother you," he murmured, "but I am going to stay here, and wait for Ma Junior to return." Popo stood resolutely, hands crossed behind his back, staring off in the direction Chichi had turned, eyes skyward.

**Landing in 10…9…8…**

Kami gritted his age-yellowed fangs, gripping the arm rest of his chair tightly, left hand claws grating on the metal. Landing was the worst part of intergalactic travel.

…**7…6….5…**

The elderly Namekian kept his eyes peeled wide open; partly because it lessened some of the nausea, but mostly because he was struck by the beauty of the planet Ma Junior had been unleashed upon. Swirling streams of white on vibrant blues, dotted with greens and browns… "Such an exquisite place," he murmured as the ship lowered itself over purpley-blue mountains, and lush forests, "for such a black soul to roam…"

…**3…2…1…**

It always amazed him how smoothly these oddly shaped ships could be landed. Moori had set them down without much jostling, although the planet's winds had created some turbulence. Kami unbuckled his seatbelt, standing before the others. He debated telling them about Nail, worried that the crew might become emotionally compromised, thus in greater danger of being killed. _I must, _he thought_, I cannot lie._

"You all know why we are here," he announced, clearing his throat. "Ma Junior escaped while we journeyed to exile him. I sent Nail and my dear friend, Mister Popo, after him." Kami paused, clearing a lump in his throat. "I sensed earlier, through my bond with Junior, intense euphoria. It is, it is my belief that he somehow captured Nail, and…" it was difficult to continue, "And absorbed him."

Gasps of horror and shock echoed throughout the cabin, punctuated by a high-pitched wail of "NO!" Kami and the other Namekians started, silenced by the child's voice. Where had it come from? No children had been brought along on such a dangerous mission!

Moori was the first to find the source of the voice.

"Dende…?" The portly old Namek rumbled, pulling the child from his hiding place. The old man's eyes were narrowed not in anger, but sadness. Dende and Nail had been particularly close, even among Namekians, where tight family bonds were common. "Dende, what in the name of Namek are you doing here?"

The boy struggled against Moori, fighting to get free. "No! Nail can't be dead, he can't!"

"Dende," Moori repeated, still holding the child's arm, "What are you doing here, Dende?"

"N-Nail!" Impossibly large tears brimmed in the tiny Namekian's wide eyes, "I came to help Nail but I got in the wrong c-cruiser!" he sobbed brokenly, "I wanted to h-help Nail if he g-got hurt!" Dende slumped against Moori's belly, hiding his face in the man's vest. "N-Nail!"

Kami walked slowly over to the sobbing child, kneeling down to his level.

"Child," he murmured, touching soft, smooth green skin with a wizened hand, "I am so sorry you had to find out this way," Dende sniffled, turning his head to look at Kami. "I wish I could ease your pain, but I fear nothing can do that."

"C-can Nail be br-brought back?" the little sprout whimpered, "back home?"

Kami's face scrunched in a sad smile.

"No, Little One, I am afraid not."

Dende began to cry again in earnest, and Kami turned to Moori. "Take him to the infirmary; at least there are beds for the lad."

Moori nodded, scooping the bawling child into his arms, mumbling words of comfort as he rushed the boy away from the meeting.

The room remained silent for several long, painful moments, until Moori returned. His eyes were damp, but he was calm.

"I apologize, Kami," he said, bowing curtly, "I assure you that I shall check for stowaways more thoroughly next time."

"Not at all Moori, not at all…" Kami shook his head, "Now, there shall be time to mourn Nail later…" He began again, explaining the need to capture Ma Junior, but going on to say that deadly forced could be used if no other choice remained.

Down the hall, fifteenth door on the left, Dende sat, staring out one of the dome shaped windows. Tears still trickled down his emerald cheeks, but his breathing had evened out. Sharp ears could hear all that was being said. _No, Nail cannot be dead! _He gritted his tiny, sharp fangs_. I will find you, Nail!_ Dende vowed as he crept out of the infirmary, further down the hall, around a bend, and out through the escape pod chambers.

Gohan's condition was deteriorating. His breaths, strained as they were before, came as a shallow, wet gurgles. Piccolo feared that at least one of his lungs was damaged. The blood wasn't clotting, and the boy's sickly pallor had taken on a bluish hue. The Namekian held him as close as possible, even tucking him inside the tattered remnants of his shirt for extra warmth.

_**He's not going to make it,**_ that sibilant hiss was back. This time, instead of walling it off, Piccolo snatched it, wringing its negative energy out it, destroying it utterly. _**Yes. He is.**_ Its dying hiss rejuvenated him. Piccolo clenched his jaw, putting on a burst of speed. He had no idea what to do with injuries. He only hoped the boy's mother would be able to get him help in time.

Chichi began pacing again, smacking the frying pan against her thigh. She turned, nearly bumping into Popo.

"Ugh! Stay out of my way!" She snarled, waving her weapon threateningly.

"I do not meant to be rude, Miss, but your path of movement is quite erratic. I have not moved."

She opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find a reasonable argument.

Popo stiffened, suddenly staring due south.

"Ma Junior approaches," he said, trancelike.

"Wha -?" Chichi followed the genie's gaze, not seeing anything for a long time. Her eyes widened as a bright beam of light shot down towards them. The light slowly turned into a shape, a person. It was Piccolo! He had _Gohan_ clutched tightly in his arms!

"Gohan!" Chichi cried, rushing forward to the seven foot tall alien as he landed. "Oh, My Baby! _Gohan!"_

The boy stirred in Piccolo's arms, bluish eyelids fluttering. "Mamma?" Gohan wiggled, "Piccolo is that my mamma? _Mamma!"_

Piccolo looked reluctantly at the little bundle in his arms. He was afraid of relinquishing that warmth. Carefully, he handed the boy to his mother, who pulled him close to her chest. "Gohan!" Tears cascaded down their faces from identical dark eyes. "Oh, Baby, you're hurt!" She looked desperately up at Piccolo. "What happened?"

"He needs help. He needs a healer," The Namekian was breathing hard from their flight.

"Mamma, I can't breathe," Gohan wheezed, "My ribs, I think they're broken, Mamma." The sickly pallor had returned to his face, "_Mamma_," he sounded so scared.

Popo moved to their sides, he was in shock, partially because Piccolo had _returned_ – and _with_ the boy – and his lack of hostility; _is that, dear Kami, __**care **__in the demon's eyes?_ He was different from before. "Oh, the poor child!" Popo exclaimed as his eyes landed on the bedraggled five-year old. "Let me see, please!" Chichi hesitantly allowed the genie to take her son. She gasped as Popo pulled the boy's shirt up to the side, revealing swollen purple, blue and red skin that was broken and bloody in several places. "I believe this lung is damaged. Possibly punctured. He needs medicine. Now."

"The nearest hospital is almost three hours away!" Chichi cried, desperately hugging Gohan as Popo gave him back to her. "Please, I can't lose him!"

"Dende…" Piccolo whispered, "Dende's a healer," There was a faraway look in the Namekian's eyes, "he is here…"

"What?" Popo looked sharply at Piccolo, "Nail's Dende? But that's imposs –" The words died on his lips as Piccolo took off with a whoosh of air. "-ible." The genie frowned; the emotional trauma caused by forced absorption usually destroyed the memories of the one taken, leaving only their power behind. _For Ma Junior to know about Dende…_ He shook his head. _That _was impossible. Nail would never have agreed to_ fuse _with the killer of his comrades. _Unless…_ His thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched squeal of fright.

Dende kicked, punched, clawed and bit at his abductor. He couldn't believe that he had let himself be captured, by his friend's supposed killer, none the less! Caught, and helpless, without the other Namekians around to save him!

"Put me down!" he shrieked, terror making his little heart beat fit to burst. He disregarded the tiny fact that they were almost fifty feet above the towering tree line. "What do you want with me?"

"Your talents as a healer," the gruff voiced Ma Junior replied in tone strangely void of malice. That, however, did nothing to quell Dende's fears.

"What did you do with Nail?!" He tried to turn, but couldn't; Junior's grip on him was too strong. It did strike him as odd that the demon hadn't killed him, nor did he seem interested in absorbing him; that could have happened exactly where the child had been captured, miles away from assistance, in the middle of a forest. It was also odd that the so-called "King of Demons" was holding him close to his chest, albeit facing down at the dizzying landscape below, rather than cruelly snatching him up by the arm, ear, leg, or even – he shuddered – _antennae_ as the stories said he would.

"We fused," was the soft reply.

Dende's heart broke.

"You _absorbed_ him?"

"No," Ma Junior returned, diving down to a small clearing in the thick forest. "He offered. I accepted."

Dende was about to argue when Ma Junior quite literally dropped out of the sky, eliciting a screech of fear from the child's mouth. He was soon set on his feet, facing the oddest looking creatures the young Namekian had ever seen. And Mister Popo. The two aliens were soft looking, with strange, silky growths on their heads. _Millions of antennae?_ Dende wondered, mouth falling open slightly. The smaller one, clutched in the arms of the larger, thinner one, was obviously hurt.

"M-M-Mister P-Popo?" Dende whispered, panicked brain leaping to the conclusion that the genie had betrayed them. _It can't be!_

The genie stared at him in evident shock.

"P-Piccolo?" A strained whisper tickled the young healer's ears. It was coming from the small, wounded alien. "Piccolo, Mamma, it hurts."

_Piccolo?_ Dende's mind was reeling, _who is Piccolo? King Piccolo is dead, taken out years ago by Nail! _Could the alien-child be referring to Ma Junior, the son of King Piccolo? _Piccolo…Junior?_

"Heal him," Junior's quiet voice was rough, but held a certain paradoxical softness to it, _just like Nail's…_ "Please, Dende."

"Why?" The child shot back, whipping his head up to look Piccolo Junior in the eye. "You're evil, and if you want him to live, he's evil too!"

"Dende," it was Popo, "there is no evil in this child, feel his soul! Have you ever felt such a pure spirit?"

It was true. There was not a trace of evil in the boy. A few shadowy corners, but those places felt sorrowful, not angry, confused, not violent. Dende bit his lip.

"B-but…?"

"Please, Sprout?" Nail's nickname for him! Dende's eyes watered as the would-be demon knelt beside him, a certain desperation in his eyes. His _black_ eyes. "Nail offered to fuse with me so that I could save him. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain."

"_Please_," it was the other alien, the strangest of them all. It had large dark eyes, a slender form with curves in odd places, and childlike-adult voice. "Please, he's my only son. If you can save him…" Tears rolled down its cheeks, dripping onto the alien child in its arms.

A weak, gurgling cough sealed it. Dende nodded.

"I'll do it," he whispered, "on the condition that Junior turns himself in."

"Deal," Piccolo vowed, coaxing Gohan from Chichi's arms, laying him flat on the ground. The boy's head rested on his mother's lap, her hands smoothing his hair and wiping sweat from his face. Piccolo moved to the side, giving Dende room to work.

Chichi watched as the tiny Piccolo-lookalike laid his glowing hands on her battered little Gohan. She was mesmerized as the child - Dende's - face ran through a gamut of emotion; shock, pity, horror, and finally, peace, as he discovered and healed the injuries. Gohan's breathing steadily relaxed, and the pinched, pained expression on his face smoothed. The bruises cleared away, the horrible swelling on his ribs disappeared, and the color returned to his skin. Slowly, his eyes opened, looking straight up into Chichi's face.

"Mamma I had a bad dr –" Gohan's eyes bugged out of his head as he saw the crowd around him. "Oh," he whispered, blinking owlishly at everyone. "I-it wasn't a dream, huh?"

"No, Sweetie," Chichi whispered, smiling softly. Tears of relief shimmered in her eyes.

"Hey, Kid," Piccolo said quietly, reaching a clawed hand out to ruffle the boy's hair. "Good to have you back."

Gohan beamed, reaching his little hands up to grab Piccolo's fingers. His tail wiggled in delight at the open affection. Piccolo offered a small smile, rocking Gohan's head back and forth gently. Chichi's eyes lit up as Gohan hurled himself at the Namekian, throwing his arms as far around Piccolo's chest as they would go.

Popo and Dende's mouths dropped open as Piccolo awkwardly returned the child's hug, placing his hands on thin shoulders.

"I…" Popo gawked at the sight, "I d-don't believe it…"

"Huh?" Gohan let go of Piccolo, taking in everyone else. "Who are you guys?"

"My name is Mister Popo, and this is Dende," Popo made a sweeping motion with his hands; "I am very pleased to see that Dende was able to heal your injuries."

Dende blushed, looking down at his feet. "It was nothing," he mumbled, scuffing his toes in the dirt. "Glad you're okay." Very suddenly, he felt guilty.

"Thank you," Gohan offered the little Namekian his hand, oblivious to the alien's inner dilemma. Dende took it timidly. "Are you friends with Piccolo too?"

Dende's eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically. "N-no! I most certainly am **not** _friends_ with _him!"_

"Oh," Gohan blinked, turning his head to look at Piccolo, standing behind his mother. "Why not?"

Dende shook his head in disbelief; how did this boy not know about Ma Junior's evil? Doubt gnawed at the boy's gut at that thought. Junior seemed different – more than what he should, even after fusion or absorption. He didn't understand.

"Dende's gone," Moori said quietly, "It would seem that he snuck out of one of the pod exits."

Kami closed his eyes, frowning grimly. The child would be easy prey for Junior. His defenses would be lowered, as distraught as he was. Dende stood no chance if Junior found him.

Ma Junior; his greatest folly. The son of his greatest enemy, his quite literal evil-twin, the Demon King Piccolo. _It is a pity,_ he thought regretfully, _that the boy could not be turned from the path of evil. It is my own fault; I should have intervened upon discovering his existence_. He sighed."Then we'd best begin our search now. The sooner we find Ma Junior, the sooner Dende and the inhabitants of this poor planet are safe."

"Yes Sir. I shall gather a team of volunteers."

Kami nodded, brows furrowing. He would attempt to contact Mister Popo. He only hoped that there was still a Mister Popo to reach.

/Mister Popo, come in, Mister Popo./ He waited, and waited. Sweat beaded on his brow. /Are there, Mister Popo?/

/Kami? You're here too?/ Surprise filtered across the mental link, /My, I must have been unconscious when you entered the atmosphere or I would –/

/Are you hurt?/ Kami interrupted, concern flowing through his being. /Was it Junior?/

/What? Oh no, I am not injured! Junior is here, yes but – /

/You're with him? Where are you?/ Standing up quickly, the Namekian elder hurriedly returned to the cabin of the ship. He sensed reluctance in the genie's mind, but very soon an image of a clearing, fifteen miles from their current location. /We'll be there in minutes. Keep him distracted and alert me at once if anything changes!/He cut the connection as he began calling out orders.

Piccolo sensed the approaching Namekian army. He sighed, closing his eyes for a long moment.

"Gohan," the boy whipped his head around to look at him.

"Yes?"

It hurt. It hurt to look at those bright, innocent eyes and make up an excuse to get rid of the boy. "I think you should go home," he said quietly. "You need to rest."

"B-but I feel fine." Gohan replied, frowning, "and I told you, the house got wrecked while you were fighting Raditz."

Piccolo looked imploringly at Chichi, _please, take him home_. Her brow furrowed, but she said nothing. "Maybe Piccolo's right, Sweetheart," she coaxed Gohan away from the three aliens. Dende kept his eyes downcast, a guilty flush discoloring his cheeks.

"_I'll do it, on the condition that Junior turns himself in." _

"_Deal." _

Whatever was going to happen to the Namekian, he didn't want Gohan to see it.

"O-okay…" Gohan looked hopefully at Piccolo, "I'll, I'll see you later, right? You can come back to my house, and help us fix it?"

Piccolo didn't return the gaze, keeping his eyes closed. He nodded slowly, "I'll… I'll think about it, Kid."

Gohan heard it. He heard the lie. "Piccolo…?"

"Go home, Gohan."

Chichi scooped the boy into her arms, even as he tried to latch back on to Piccolo's pant leg. Piccolo's hands clenched and unclenched, fingers twitching with each movement. His entire body was rigid, refusing to look at Gohan. "Piccolo, wha –"

A dull whirring noise hit their ears.

Piccolo's eyes opened slowly, an unidentifiable emotion on his face. It was better like this… In a way. The boy would know. He wouldn't feel abandoned. Heartbroken. But not abandoned.

"Gohan," he looked the boy in the eye. "I'm sorry," the others arrived.

Piccolo opened his mouth to say more, but didn't have the chance as seven Namekian warriors dropped from above, surrounding the small group, seven balls of glowing ki trained on the demon.

"Stand down," a rasping voice growled from behind the ring of fire. "Ma Junior." Several of the warriors turned their heads ever so slightly, tension and nervousness tightly woven on their faces. Chichi pulled Gohan closer to her, fear growing in her demeanor. Gohan shrunk back into her arms as the walls of warriors parted.

"Kami," Piccolo spat, spasms wracking the muscles in his jaw and neck.

A very tall, very wrinkled, very _old_ man moved slowly into the center of the warriors. His thin, cracked lips were drawn into a tight frown, accentuating his high, gaunt cheekbones and severe eyes. He carried a staff in his hand, which, along with his flowing robes, made him appear regal, even godlike. Gohan couldn't help but notice that the green man bore a resemblance to the monster in the nightmare he and Piccolo had shared. Only, this man didn't feel evil. He just felt…sad, tired. Gohan frowned, pushing against his mother's arms.

Kami lowered his staff into the ground, striking it against a rock. The sound rippled through the ears of everyone present like a drumbeat. His eyes locked onto the demon's face. An expression he had never seen on his young counterpart caught his attention, but he was unable to identify the emotion.

"Well, get on with it," the demon bit out through tightly clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Kami said nothing, nodding to his warriors. Two of them leapt forward, grabbing Junior roughly by the arms. The Namek did nothing more than raise his lip at them. Even that small action caused them to momentarily shrink from him in fear. A small cry interrupted Kami's thoughts, "What are you doing?"

For the first time, he looked at the aliens. Popo and Dende stood uncomfortably away from the action. But it wasn't either of them whom had spoken. It was tiny child, with messy black hair and bright, innocent eyes. It was held in the arms of another alien, softer looking and, Kami noted with mild interest, female. He recognized the aliens as humans, the native inhabitants of the planet. It occurred to him that he did not need to answer the boy, but something in the young human's eyes compelled him to speak.

"This man is an escaped criminal, we're taking him back."

"Back where?"

"Gohan," the female hissed, trying to grab the boy again as he struggled free. She missed. Kami raised his eyebrows as a long simian tail unfurled itself from under the child.

"Excuse me," Gohan said rather boldly, marching right up to Kami. He barely reached the Namekian's knee, and had to crane his neck back to look up at the man, "I asked you where you're taking Piccolo."

His eyebrows shot even farther up Kami's forehead. The boy had called Junior "Piccolo." Casting a glance at the captive, Kami slowly replied to the child, not sure how to respond. The other Namekians seemed likewise shocked by the boy's audacity.

"I…do not believe it is any of your business where Ma Junior goes." He watched the boy's face for a moment, noticing annoyance flash through his bright eyes.

"Well," Gohan crossed his arms, tail swishing agitatedly. "He's my friend, so I think it _is _my business."

Several whispers and gasps of confusion were audible from the Namekian warriors.

"_Friend? Did he say __**friend**__?"_

"_What kind of child makes friends with a __**monster**__ like Junior?"_

"_He must have __**bewitched**__ the boy!" _

"_Perhaps the __**child**__ is evil too!"_

"_Wait, is that a __**Saiyan**__ tail?"_

Kami raised a hand for silence. The murmurs took only a moment to quiet, but nervous shuffling continued after the voices died.

"Gohan," it was Piccolo, "I'll be fine. Just go home."

"No! Not 'till he tells me what's gonna happen to you!" Gohan cried, turning to Piccolo.

Kami twitched.

"I think you'd rather not know," the boy's head whipped back around to look at the ancient Namekian.

"Y-you're gonna kill him?" Tears started to well up in the boy's eyes, "you are, aren't you?!" He shouted, cheeks flushing scarlet.

Kami narrowed his eyes, "No, I'm not going to kill him. Our lives are connected; if he dies, so do I, and vise versa." He growled at the child, "I was prepared to die to rid this planet of his evil – if it came to that extreme."

"He's _not_ evil!" Gohan protested, waving his arms wildly about, "He's just _grumpy!"_

"He's killed dozens of our people!" One warrior called out angrily. "He killed my best friend not even a month ago!" Several others chorused the man's statement. All the while, Piccolo stood silently, two guards still holding him tightly. At least the first warrior was only mildly exaggerating. He had probably killed fifteen warriors on planet Namek, as well as the three guards on the transport ship. Piccolo had never had many qualms about killing, but unlike his father, Junior had never set about trying to conquer the tiny planet. He had been more interested in gaining power, in fighting, in proving himself, than in world domination. Those that had fallen at his hands had been the ones whom had dared to challenge him.

Gohan's face scrunched in disbelief; he looked up at Piccolo, who nodded slowly.

"Eighteen," he answered quietly, "nineteen, including Raditz. Twenty…if Nail's sacrifice counts."

"Sacrifice?" Kami scoffed; rage discoloring his wrinkled green face, "You absorbed him! In what twisted way is that a sacrifice?"

"He offered," Piccolo growled, visibly tensing. His antennae stood on end.

Kami's teeth ground audibly, and he brandished his staff at his young counterpart.

"How _dare_ you sully his memory with your lies –"

"I'm _**not**_ lying," he snarled, muscles tensing. The Namekian warriors holding his arms bared their fangs and tightened their grips.

"I have heard enough," Kami slammed his staff into the ground, "It's time to face your fate." Piccolo's face paled, and Kami continued, "You know the consequences of your actions. You attempted escape your original punishment of banishment." Sweat began to bead on Piccolo's forehead. "You shall be sealed for the rest of your natural life." Kami turned imperiously on his heel. "Take him to the ship."

The warriors roughly jerked Piccolo forward; his legs were shaking too badly to fight back had he wanted to.

"WAIT!" Gohan yelled, his voicing making everyone freeze once again. He lunged forward, latching onto Kami's robe, "what does that mean, 'sealed'?"

Piccolo felt an involuntary shudder pass through his body.

Kami was losing patience with the child.

"It means that he shall live the rest of his days in the container of my choosing."

"Will it be _dark?"_

"Y-yes."

Gohan lost it, tears overflowing his eyelids. "But Piccolo hates the dark! He's scared of it and likes daytime! You can't lock him up somewhere dark forever! That's cruel!"The boy let go of Kami's robe with a vicious tug, flinging himself instead at Piccolo, ignoring the two startled guards. "It's not f-fair!"He sobbed, burrowing his face in the soft purple fabric just below the Namekian's knee. Piccolo, regaining some semblance of control, shook the two warriors off with a look and snarl, kneeling down to Gohan's level and placing his still shaky hands on the boy's shoulders. "It's n-n-not fair! Y-you ha-hate the dark! You're scared of it! And you like to be outside!" Gohan slumped against his hands, tears cascading down his face, little body convulsing from the force of his tears.

Kami watched the scene in shock, eyes practically bugging out of his skull.

"I-Impossible…"

"Stop crying, Kid," Piccolo whispered, "stop crying, it's not – it's not going to change anything."

Gohan looked up, and Piccolo felt his heart crack; the boy's lower lip quivered, eyes wide and watery, face pink and flushed.

"I can't," Gohan gasped between sobs, "I can't. I _can't_."

"What - is going - on - here?!" Everyone in the clearing turned to see the source of the noise. Standing on a tree root, a very short, very irked looking woman panted. Chichi grimaced, remembering the circumstances that had lead to Gohan running off earlier. Baba still wanted to take the boy. At the sight of the diminutive social worker, Gohan's tears intensified.

"M-Miss Baba?" Kami stammered, sweat beading in his brow, "I apologize for landing my ship without proper clearance; it was an emer-"

"Wait," Chichi stared at the odd duo, "You _know _each other?"

Baba's eyes roved around the clearing, taking in the scene. She nodded ruefully.

"Yes, I work for the government in more than one department. I'm not supposed to tell anyone about my more _unusual_ job, but since Kami here decided to blow my cover I suppose there's no harm in admitting it," she glared icily at the tall Namekian elder, who flushed. "I know the _Green Giants_ over here from various intergalactic communications. They've alerted us to several potential invasions and aided us in diverting these aggressors." Baba sighed, grumbling, "I was attempting to remove myself from _that_ aspect of work..."

The Namekians shuffled uncomfortably. "Well," Kami began in a strained voice, "We were just leaving. I apologize for interfering in human affairs..."

Chichi was startled out of her thoughts as Piccolo growled loudly. The two Namekian guards withdrew their hands from Gohan as if threatened by a deadly snake. They looked to Kami for guidance, but the elderly man seemed baffled, and merely shook his head. Baba raised her eyebrow, "I do believe I asked what was going on, Kami. That _boy_ your man is holding is under _my_ care."

Chichi bristled visibly, but Popo placed a hand on her shoulder, sensing her violent intentions.

Kami glared at Baba.

"He is not '_my man_,'" he snapped, "Ma Junior -"

"Piccolo, my name is _**Piccolo**_."

"Very well, _Piccolo_," Kami snapped, glaring at his counterpart. Piccolo nodded, still crouching with Gohan in his arms. The boy had wrapped his arms around the Namekian's neck, and his tears had quieted to hiccupping sniffles. The scene was unnerving. "As...as I was saying, P-Piccolo here is an escaped criminal. We were taking him to an abandoned planet for exile after he slaughtered his own kind. He is a menace...a...demon..." Kami trailed off, eyes drawn to the scene in front of him.

"He doesn't _look_ like a demon to me," Chichi murmured, eyes moist. "He doesn't act like one either. No demon holds a child like that."

"I..." The warriors looked at Kami, at Piccolo, at Baba, and back to Kami.

"Sir...?" The tallest of them asked, tentative.

Kami closed his eyes, face grim. Ma - Piccolo - couldn't be trusted. He was a menace. A demon. The Spawn of Evil. The King of Hell.

Words drifted to the forefront of his memories, words uttered by the man in front of him.

_"I am not my father. I am __**better**__ than that fool ever was."_

Of course, the demon had spat that at him upon his capture, swearing that Kami could never contain him. He had not meant that he was... _Morally_ better than King Piccolo had been. Junior had reveled in his power, and fed off the fear of the Nameks…just like his father before him. But that didn't seem to match now. The way he held the boy... Kami shook his head, clenching his jaw. _No... He must have another reason for this behavior. The boy has great power dwelling in him, he __**must**__ want it..._ The words sounded hollow, even inside of his head. Kami opened his mouth to speak, the conflict evident on his face. Gohan waited with baited breath, "Bring him to the ship."

Gohan's heart dropped, falling right through his stomach and smashing all over the forest floor.

"Easy Kid," Piccolo whispered, feeling the boy beginning to tremble all over again. _He_ was starting to shake again. "Easy, you'll be fine."

"No I won't..." Gohan shook his head, bangs falling in front of his eyes. "No I _won't_... I can't... I can't lose you _too!_" Piccolo pulled the boy closer to his chest in a tight embrace, resting his chin in Gohan's messy black hair.

"I'm so sorry, Kid." _I should never have let you get close to me._

"Do you really have to go?" his voice muffled in Piccolo's shirt.

"Yeah," Piccolo nodded slowly. "I…I do."

"But," Gohan pulled away, staring up at him with glistening eyes, "but I don't want you to go!" Piccolo stood, hugging the child as tightly as he could without hurting him. He wished the others weren't around to see it, but he wasn't going to rob the boy of anything on the account of his pride. With one last squeeze, Piccolo handed Gohan to Chichi. He had to pry the boy's fingers from his shirt. Some of the fabric tore off in Gohan's hands. Chichi took Gohan in her arms, giving Piccolo a look full of sorrow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, wiping tears from her son's eyes. He shrugged with forced nonchalance. There was nothing she could do.

"It's…It's time to go, Piccolo," Kami said, his voice strained and full of an unidentifiable emotion. Piccolo felt the shakes returning in full force. He didn't want to be sealed in some horrible small, _dark_ place for another…two, three hundred years? How old was Kami? Never in his life had he wanted to run so badly. Piccolo's breath hitched as the taller Namekians grabbed hold of his arms again.

Gohan sniffled loudly. Chichi rubbed his back, whispering quietly to him.

"Son Chichi," Baba hissed, gesturing to the departing Namekians. "What is going on here? How does Gohan know a Namekian, and an escaped convict at that?"

Chichi closed her eyes; she didn't want to deal with this right now.

"He found him," she said, "I don't know."

Dende ran to catch up with the Namekians, unable to look Gohan in the eye. Popo gave the little family a long, sad look before following behind the group by a short distance.

"Well," Baba began to say something else, but Gohan suddenly jerked bolt upright, thrashing free of his mother in seconds.

"Gohan!" both women screamed in unison as the boy sprinted after the group of aliens. Chichi ran after him, Baba trailing off behind her.

"WAIT!" Gohan tripped, sprawling on his face and rolling twice before scrambling back to his feet. "WAIT!" he overtook the rear guard, the men holding Piccolo, and crashed smack-dab into Kami as the old man halted. Gohan fell backwards, landing on his bottom. "Ow," he grumbled, standing up and rubbing his smarting tail. "Um," he looked up, and up, and _up_, into Kami's face. "Um, well…"

"_**Yyeeeess**_." Kami drew the word out between sharp fangs, raising his eyebrows.

"Um, you can't take him." Gohan pointed at Piccolo.

"Excuse me?"

Gohan nodded, "that's right. You can't take him." He crossed his arms, "Piccolo promised he wouldn't leave me."

Piccolo's ears perked. Kami and the other Namekians stared incredulously at the child.

"He…he _what?"_

Gohan's face flushed, he'd been hoping that his simple explanation would be enough.

"Well, Piccolo promised he wouldn't leave me. I asked him not to, and he said he wouldn't. Because I don't have a Daddy. And," Gohan gulped, tail swishing. Chichi and Baba paused, hands on knees and panting after their sprint, "And, I need a Daddy. And, Piccolo is my best friend… And…um… He saved me. So…" Gohan bit his lip to keep it from quivering. "So please don't take him away from me! He _promised!_"

Silence filled the clearing; even the wind ceased to blow and the birds paused their song. The entirety of the forest seemed attuned to this scene, this desperate plea.

Kami opened his mouth, closed it, and looked at Piccolo.

"Is this true?"

Piccolo nodded. Kami's brow furrowed slightly, seeing something amiss with the demon's face. He stepped carefully around Gohan, leaning close to Piccolo. "Your...your eyes..."

"What?" Gohan followed Kami, peering up Piccolo, "Oh, oh yeah when I first found him they were bright red, but they started to turn darker after the first week and kept doing it."

"I don't _believe_ it... Your eyes..."

"Are like a _normal_ Namek's!" the taller guard gasped, leaning in for a closer look, murmurs of surprise could be heard from the backup men.

_"__**Not**__ a demon?"_

_"Look, it's true!"_

_"By Porunga, his eyes are __**black**__!"_

Piccolo was growing increasingly uncomfortable with all the close proximity; it took all of his willpower not to growl at someone.

"Excuse me," Gohan tugged on Kami's robe, "Sir, does this mean he can stay?"

Kami looked around at the group of Namekian Warriors in a complete loss for words.

"I..."

"Um, Kami?" Dende pushed through the group of fully grown warriors, "you were going to exile him, weren't you?"

Gohan and Piccolo's eyes widened as the meaning behind the boy's words dawned on them. Piccolo's heart beat frantically against his ribcage. Gohan looked pleadingly up at Kami, hands clasped over his chest, just under his chin.

"Oh please, Sir! Please! Piccolo can stay with me and Mamma, and I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble and, and - Oh _please_ let him stay!"

A slow smile broke over Kami's thin lips. He knelt down to Gohan's level, placing a calloused hand on the boy's head and ruffling his hair.

"Can you do that?" he rasped, "keep an eye on my boy? He's a bit like my nephew, you know."

Gohan's eyes lit up, sparkling with happy tears,

"Oh yes, Sir! I can, Sir! I promise I'll make sure he's good and everything!"

"Very well," Kami said, standing tall among the other Namekians. "Hear this," he gestured to the listening crowd. "From this day forward, the Namekian Piccolo, formerly known as Ma Junior, is banished to the Planet Earth. He shall spend his life with his new caretakers," the elderly Namekian glanced down at Gohan, asking out of the corner of his mouth, "Eh, what's your name, son? And your mother's too."

"Son Gohan, and Mamma's name is Chichi," Gohan whispered secretively.

Kami nodded and continued.

"His new caretakers, Son Chichi and Son Gohan. So I have said it, so it shall be. Release him."

The guards let go of Piccolo, who instantly dropped to his knees as a tiny cannonball with black hair and a tail tackled him around the middle. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips, nor did he try to hide it as he pulled the child into a tight embrace.

Baba made a small noise of protest, but Kami's voice drowned her out, "Henceforth, this family is under the protection of the Namekian government. None shall interfere with their daily lives nor harass them in any way, shape, nor form." Kami extended his hand to Chichi, and said far more quietly, "I do hope you don't mind the extra body in your home; he doesn't eat much and is capable of clothing himself. If you have any concerns I'll be happy to assist -" he was cut off as Chichi, ignoring the offered hand, through her arms around the green elder's thin body, squeezing him in a surprisingly powerful embrace for a human.

"Thank you!" She sobbed, "thank you so much! Oh thank you!"

Kami very awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, looking incredibly bemused.

"I was afraid he'd do something like that," Baba grumbled crossly, folding her arms and harrumphing agitatedly. "Now, what are you going to do about your house?"

In the months following, Gohan, Piccolo, Chichi, and Dende – who had decided to stay behind on Earth to "be as close to Nail as possible," – worked diligently to rebuild the tiny cottage at the base of the mountain. The final product looked nothing like the original; Piccolo had scavenged remains from his ship for walls and a roof, and the two Namekians had used their odd magics to fuse the foreign objects to the native earth materials.

Chichi delicately hung the photographs back up on the walls. It was a miracle that none of them had been destroyed in the fight. She sighed, wiping a tear from her eye as she placed a picture on the new mantel. It was the day after Gohan had been born, Goku was grinning from ear to ear, kissing her on the cheek while she cradled the infant in her arms. It had once hung in the center of the wall. She had replaced it with a new photograph, taken only yesterday. Piccolo, with Gohan on his shoulder, Dende standing in front of him, and she next to the odd group. Chichi smiled as she gazed at the portrait, her eyes falling on Gohan and Piccolo.

They had both been lost, but by some beautiful coincidence – or maybe it was destiny – they had found each other.

**For those of you who don't know, "He Mele No Lilo" is most commonly translated as "A Song for the Lost." Throughout the story, Piccolo and Gohan were both lost, emotionally, and in Piccolo's case, physically. Even Chichi was lost, she couldn't cope without Goku. Dende was lost without Nail. By the end of the story, no one was lost; they had all found something or someone to hold on to. Thanks for all of your support. And I'll be writing Gohan and Piccolo (and other DBZ) fics, don't worry : ) See you all again soon!**

**~Wulfeh**

**PS – listen to this Breaking Benjamin song (Better Days). In my mind, it is pretty much Pic's theme song. Annnd the Goo Goo Doll's "All That You Are" (minus the romancey stuff) is perfect for Piccolo and Gohan.**

**Until next time!**


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